David Kaganov  1926 – 2009

artist, philosopher, architect

 

Was born in Kherson, Ukraine in 1926.

Starting from his childhood he was always pensive with artistic and philosophical views of his surrounding.

Acknowledgment of Godliness permeated his mundane and has been reflected on his canvases as a result.

On a surface his paintings are very decorative overflow with play of light and shadow, however beneath that layer glows deep wisdom. 

During the Second World War his life was saved by divine providence.

Being a teenager he served the Red Army. One winter morning his regiment was getting ready to be sent to the front lines to fight Nazis. Few officials unexpectedly came from the Headquarters looking for an artist. They have lined up the entire regiment to make an announcement for an artist to identify himself. Fear and confusion was in the air.

David, a seventeen year boy, was numb from fright and uncertainty. Suddenly, young soldier next to David shouted through complete silence: “David is an artist! Take him; he is standing next to me!

David immediately was ordered to follow the officials in to a military car.

Fortunately, he was simply needed to draw portraits of the communist party officials.

…His regiment was designated to face the deadly battle next morning and no one survived…

After the war he finished Academy of Civil Engineering and Architecture in Odessa, Ukraine.

David was a leading architect, in designing chemical plants all around Russia.

During “dark times” in Soviet Russia his bitterness was strongly expressed in his art, mainly it carried anti - communist messages.

His canvases and sketches he kept secretly.

Luckily, he and his family were able to emigrate from Russia leaving everything behind including his canvases and 600 sketches made on tracing paper. It was risky to have it in possession during the body search by the Soviet Customs officers while crossing the boarder.

David and his family immigrated to Israel in 1972.

In three weeks he was hired by an architectural firm in Tel Aviv were he was recognized again as a leading architect in many projects as well as building IDC – famous Israel Diamond Center in Ramat Gan. In a few months David restored almost all of his sketches that he had to leave behind and started a new era in expressing himself as a free man.

Artist’s Israeli and Canadian collection consists of close to 200 big canvases as well as graphics and limited edition prints.

Upon arrival to Toronto he sold number of paintings by exhibiting his art in of one of the galleries on Yorkville Street, in Toronto. One of the customers who bought the painting from that collection asked the artist to paint two more canvases to create a triptyque.

David Kaganov had his paintings exhibited in Israel, Germany and Japan.

His dream was to open up widely his art to touch people’s hearts.