In an artist's memory
Yael Bruria Aviezer didn't live to see her art studio open. Now her partner is keeping his final promise to her.
By Kathy Shaskan
Special to the Daily Record
David Bobko and Yael Bruria Aviezer met through the personal ads of the Daily Record and spent five happy years together. "The paper used to have an ad section called Only Hearts," Bobko said. "I put an ad in there and she saw it. At the time we were living across Lake Hopatcong from each other. She was renting a house overlooking the lake." Soon they decided to move into, and renovate, a rental property in Jefferson that Bobko had owned for years. They also began work on a small painting studio/gallery on the property, where Yael could showcase and sell her artwork. "She'd bought a shed and turned it into a studio," Bobko said. "She designed it, she put in insulation, heat and air conditioning. She designed a Web site. She even had the brochures printed and ready to go." But the grand opening of Yael Fine Art Studio, scheduled for September 2005, was not to be. Aviezer, age 69 and a diabetic, was hospitalized with kidney failure. In early October, after she had endured two leg amputations and an increasingly grim prognosis, Bobko made a vow. "I promised her I would open the studio and have a show," he said. She died just a few weeks later, on Oct. 21.
Bobko will fulfill his promise May 7. That Sunday, Aviezer's gallery will be open from 2 to 8 p.m; wine and cheese will be served, and a guitar player will serenade visitors. About 40 paintings will be shown; more if the weather allows for outdoor display. "She painted in an Impressionist style," Bobko said. "They're mostly oils, but there are quite a few watercolors too. The smallest is about 12 by 12 inches and the largest is about 40 by 46. There are still life paintings, landscapes, self-portraits. "Bobko said there are also a number of canvases painted in Jerusalem that depict Israeli life.
Bobko admits that planning this endeavor was no easy task. "I'm a retired excavating contractor. I knew nothing about art when I met Yael," he said. "We were opposites. She was always trying to educate me about the arts, about opera ... she really loved opera. "Asked if the lessons took, he laughed and replied, "Yes, a little, but you have to remember she only had five years to work on me. I was going in the other direction for more than 60 years. "Aviezer, by contrast, spent an entire lifetime in creative pursuits. She was born in Israel to a family of artists, including prima ballerina Mia Arbatova. Her mother was her first art teacher, but far from her last. "She painted all her life. She just lived for her painting," Bobko said. She studied at Jerusalem's "Bezalel" Art Academy and the Cooper Union in New York City. She also studied ballet at the Juilliard School of Dance and worked professionally as a dancer, teacher, choreographer and sometime actor. The little gallery she planned in Jefferson was not her first attempt at art sales, either. "Yael originally came to the U.S. when she was about 18," Bobko explained. "Later, she went back to Israel for about 10 years and opened an art gallery. "Located in Tel Aviv, it was called The New Gallery, and Aviezer owned it from 1970 to 1980. "Then she came back to the U.S. and became an American citizen. "Bobko hopes to sell some of the paintings, but there are two he says he won't give up. "One is called 'Tulips' and it was Yael's favorite painting," he said. "The more I see it, I just love it. "The other is her very first painting. "It's a self-portrait and she did it at about age 13. She told me she painted it leaning over a coffee table and looking at her reflection, "Bobko said. "It has sentimental value for me. "May 7 will be a bittersweet day for Bobko, who still forgets at times to refer to Aviezer in the past tense. Of her untimely death, he said, "She finally got to a place in her life where she could relax and paint and she didn't get to enjoy it." Still, he is happy that he will fulfill her dream, if only for a day, by assembling her colorful canvasses and sharing them with the public.
Kathy Shaskan is a freelance writer.
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