BE'ERI

BE'ERI (Heb. בּxְאֵרִי), kibbutz in S. Israel, in the N.W. Negev, affiliated with Ha-Kibbutz ha-Me'uḥad. It was one of 11 settlements in the Negev and the south founded during the night of October 6, 1946. The founding settlers, members of Ha-No'ar ha-Oved (Israel Working Youth Movement), were joined by other settlers, mainly from Iraq. In the mid-1990s the population was approximately 850, dropping to 753 in 2002. The economy was based mainly on its printing press. The kibbutz cultivated around 3,000 acres of farmland, which included field crops and orchards, and raised dairy cattle and ostriches. The name commemorates the labor leader Berl (Be'eri) katznelson . (Efraim Orni) -WEBSITE: www.beeri.org.il . BEERI, TUVIA BEERI, TUVIA (1929– ), Israeli painter and printmaker. Beeri was born in Czechoslovakia and immigrated to Israel in 1948. In 1957 he entered the "Oranim" art school, where he studied with marcel janco and Jacob Wechsler, continuing his studies in Paris. From 1961 to 1963 he studied the technique of etching under johnny friedlaender and attended the studio of lithography at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts, Paris. Returning to Israel, he taught at the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts. From 1957 he taught printmaking at the Avni Institute of Art, Tel Aviv. Beeri was one of Israel's leading graphic artists. He used etching-needle and drypoint, but was particularly in favor of aquatint print technique, which, by the creation of color and the variation of planes, makes it possible to introduce painting quality into graphic work. Beeri's world is a dream world of color and form. His paintings remind one of mysterious landscapes of the Pyramids and of ancient times. Luminosity is achieved by printing bright colors one above the other, thus achieving transparency, depth, and plasticity of forms. Beeri held many one-man shows and participated in group exhibitions in the United States, Canada, South America, Australia, Europe, and Israel. He also took part in some important Biennales of the graphic arts – in Paris, Florence, and Tokyo. His work is represented in the Museum of Modern Art, New York, the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris, and in many museums both in Israel and abroad. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. Talpir, in: Gazit, 23, nos. 3–4 (1965), 17; M. Tal, in: Ariel, 15 (Summer, 1966), 72–79. (Judith Spitzer)