# Moshe Gershuni artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/moshe-gershuni/
Profile generated: 2026-05-10T05:34:05.419Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1936-09-11
- Death date: 2017-01-22
- Nationality: Israeli
- Movements: Contemporary Israeli Art, Post-War politically engaged art
- Common media: Painting, Sculpture, Printmaking, Works on paper

## About Moshe Gershuni

Moshe Gershuni (1936–2017) was an Israeli painter, sculptor, and printmaker born in Tel Aviv, where he lived and worked for most of his life. A leading and at times controversial figure in contemporary Israeli art, Gershuni became known for paintings that confronted the legacy of the Holocaust and the culture of mourning in Israeli society. His work from the 1980s in particular brought together themes of bereavement, homoeroticism, and political critique, challenging dominant narratives of Israeli nationalism and collective memory. Gershuni's practice spanned painting, sculpture, printmaking, and works on paper, and his pieces are held in major international museum collections including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Tate in London. He was awarded the Israel Prize for Painting in 2003, though the honor was subsequently revoked amid public controversy, an episode that remains a significant part of his biographical record.

## Common works and media

Gershuni produced paintings (both large-scale canvases and intimate formats), sculptures, prints, and works on paper. His paintings often incorporate text, gestural brushwork, and symbolic imagery related to mourning, the body, and Israeli collective memory. Prints and multiples are relatively accessible entry points for collectors. Sculptural works and mixed-media pieces also appear at auction. Collectors most commonly encounter oil on canvas, acrylic on canvas, screen prints, etchings, and ink or mixed-media works on paper.

## Market and appraisal context

Moshe Gershuni's works appear regularly in Post-War and Contemporary Art and Israeli Art auction sales. His paintings, particularly those from the 1980s addressing the Holocaust and bereavement, are widely regarded as his most historically significant output and tend to attract the strongest collector interest. Prints, works on paper, and sculptures by the artist also circulate on the secondary market. Provenance linked to major museum exhibitions or institutional collections can be an important value factor. As with many contemporary artists, appraisal should consider medium, date, dimensions, condition, exhibition history, and comparable public auction results. No single source in this research pack provides specific realized prices or price trends.

## Appraisily data basis

This Appraisily artist page combines verified identity data from authority files (Library of Congress, Getty ULAN, VIAF, Wikidata), museum collection records (MoMA, Tate), and biographical sources with auction records, auction-house context, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. The information here is drawn from publicly accessible, institution-grade sources.

## Sources

- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85242282
- VIAF: https://viaf.org/viaf/34602089/
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500102134
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q2911650
- RKD - Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/254517
- The Museum of Modern Art: https://www.moma.org/artists/2134
- Tate: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artists/moshe-gershuni-2781
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moshe_Gershuni