Litvi's Lively Line

Ιn the last decade of his long and active life the late Pinhas Litvinovsky (Israel Prize laureate, 1980) produced an endless stream of line drawings made with colored oil pastels on rice paper. Several dozen of these works are now on view at a Jerusalem gallery. Proceeds from their sale go to the Litvinovsky Foundation, which is turning the artist's home and studio into a permanent museum.

The lively, gestural drawings employ ciphers for figures and animals, lovers and nudes. Imagine a cross between a Picasso drawing and a cartoon by Steig and you will begin to get an idea of their character. This particular selection is marked by much humor and interesting compositional solutions. Litvinovsky, while sticking to the same methods, rarely repeated himself: many of the compositions are ingenious.

A signature would have upset the delicate balance of line and space; Litvi, as he was known, did not sign any of these works. But they have all been authenticated (on the back of the mount) by the artist's estate. (Mayanot Gallery, 28 King George, Jerusalem). Till April 3.