Artist: Yasharel Manzy

Medium: Oil on Canvas

Size: 17" x 20"

Artist Bio:
Yasharel Manzy was born in the ancient Jewish ghetto of Esfahan, Iran, in 1947. He immigrated to the United States at the age of twenty-one. After twenty years of doing many different types of work, Yasharel was overwhelmed by the need for artistic expression, and finally at the age of forty, he abandoned his last business to devote himself to painting. He began traveling extensively and was especially taken with the landscapes of southern France and Italy's Tuscany area. These dramatic vistas became his muse and from time to time he is drawn back to revisit them.

Yasharel is primarily a self-taught intuitive painter who gains inspiration from both the world around him and his deep love of classical music. His paintings touch upon the emotional core that we each hold within us.

Yasharel has been exhibiting regularly in Atlanta for more than twenty-six years. He has had over forty solo exhibitions in galleries in the United States.

Artist's Statement
When I was six years old I tried to copy one of Raphael's drawings. The result of the drawing gave me such exaltation that I could not sleep that night. I could not wait until I showed the drawing to my teacher the next day. My very first experience in painting was at the age of thirteen during the summer vacation. I would spend long afternoons doing watercolors. The subject matter was mostly the scenes of the city. I attempted to paint again at the age of thirty-three. Then to my dislike due to the quality of the paintings and my lack of experience, I abandoned painting once again. I suppose due to the lack of patience I always wanted to be able to paint without going through the pain of schools and learning.

Then came the winter of 1990. While strolling through a gallery a painting with a French scene caught my attention. There I was glued to the floor and frozen. A few moments later this incredible feeling overwhelmed me. I found myself at the crossroads of my life, and I knew there was no turning back. At that time I was a partner in a business in Atlanta. To be able to change my banal way of life and go where my heart was that afternoon I decided to change my ways and to become a painter. Now it is very clear that I almost had no part in the transformation that was taking place that day.

The following day I changed my office from a place of business into a studio. For the first time in twenty years I could not wait to get to work so I could paint. I did learn through books and frequenting great museums of the world. I painted at least eight hours a day for the next six years. Then I was capable of standing alone, and I became a full-time painter. As a self-taught painter I have had the utmost difficulties learning since I am a terrible teacher and an impatient student. His paintings have sold throughout the world.