From World Encyclopedia of NAÏVE ART,(ed. Muller, p.183)

Gabriel Cohen was born in Paris to Sephardi-Jerusalemite parents. His father was a tailor, who also studied the Cabbala, and his mother was a seamstress. Having lived through the German occupation in Paris, the family moved to Israel in 1949. Gabriel, the sixth of eleven children, earned some money from odd job. He began to paint at the age of forty, while working as a diamond-cutter and a night-watchman. At first he painted on cardboard, then turned to sack, sheets, plywood, canvas and lately to painting behind glass. He occasionally paints very large paintings:”92 Days around the world” (1976) is made of three parts and measures 176 x 300 cm. a dedicated traveller, he paints panoramas of different countries and continents, mixing reality and dreams. Two landmarks always appear –the Eiffeil Tower and the Dome of the Rock.

East and west, light and shade, playfulness and violence, historic grandeur and humorousdetail alternate in his work. He covers an astounding range of subjects, including portraits, landscapes and fantastic scenes of religious or erotic significance.

Exhibitions and Prizes 1974 - Exhibition of International Naive Art: KunsHaus, Zurich. 1975 - Exhibition of Five Naive Israeli Painters: Denmark, Germany 1985 - Exposition des Artistes de Jerusalem: Salon des Beaux Arts, Grand Palais, Paris. 1987 - A World of their Own - exhibition of naive artists from Israel, shown together with Chagall and the Bible : Jewish Museum, New York. 1987 - Jerusalem Prize for Painting, presented by Mr. Teddy Kollek, Mayor of Jerusalem. 1992 - Around the Wall - Jerusalem Artists Paint Their City - a group exhibition in which will travel worldwide for two years. Gabriel Cohen''''s Works Are Included In The Collection Of: Jewish Museum, New York Israel Museum, Jerusalem Tel Aviv Museum Museum of Modern Art, Haifa