Michael Gorban, 1956

Russian painter Michael Gorban was born in Russia. He studied art for 21 years with the finest of Russian artists and by age 30 his paintings were hanging alongside those of Dali, Kandinsky and Chagall in the prestigious Hermitage museum in Leningrad.
In 1990 Gorban left everything behind and emigrated to Israel. Today he is considered a first-rate Israeli artist, as well as being prominently featured with three of his paintings in the national album of Russian art history as one of the young artists to impact the 20th century between 1960 and 1980.
"Painting is a sensual experience", claims Gorban from his studio near Tel Aviv. "I will not sign my name until I am completely satisfied.... I have never painted under duress or according to order. My success comes from people feeling the same satisfaction that I myself felt upon completing the painting".

Gorban's art is wonderfully diverse in subject. His paintings are always consistent in their quality and his creativity and vision are boundless. Misha's paintings have a rare ability to engage the viewer. One sees the children as if they were their own, and the violin as if he was the musician and the windows with an undeniable sense of the comfort and security of hearth and home. Born in the town of Jagovka in the Ukraine, he is the son of a teacher and a doctor. Misha was in the 4th grade when his family moved to Kishinev in Moldova in the former Soviet Union. They moved to enable Gorban to study art for 3 hours a day during elementary school. Even at this young age he was thought to be a prodigy. Altogether Gorban studied art for 21 years. When asked why he says that when painting he wanted only to think about what to paint not how to paint it. From 1982 when he graduated from the Academy for Painting in Lvov to the present he has been the recipient of numerous honors and one man shows. His painting, The Spring of the Land was shown in an exhibition at the most prestigious of museums, the Hermitage in Leningrad. He is currently living in Israel with his wife and children. We think that you will be surprised with the range of Gorban's paintings. Though the themes are varied the common denominator is certainly in the exquisite mastery of his work. His works have been exhibited extensively in Russia, Europe, Israel, Japan, Canada and in the United States.