I was born in Kharkiv, Ukraine (formerly part of the USSR) before the start of World War II, but lived
after the war in Kiev. My father was a painter, and my younger brother began his artistic studies at
the age of twelve in a special school for talented children near the Ukrainian Arts Academy. I thought
there were enough painters in the family and decided to study civil engineering.
In 1972, our entire family decided to leave the USSR and make "Aliyah" to Israel. My father passed
away, and my brother became a highly valued artist in Israel. I earned a Doctor of Science (D.Sc.)
degree from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa and worked in the civil
engineering field.
Nevertheless, following the family tradition, I have always been interested in the plastic arts and
painted for my pleasure. In such a way painting became my first and deepest hobby. After retiring
from the engineering field, I decided to change direction and dedicate all my free time to painting.
For about six years, I participated in an etching group at the Artistic House of Tel Aviv and took part
in several group and one solo exhibitions. Later, I began working with color, which eventually
became my primary interest.
For my early paintings, I mainly used oil pastels but gradually transitioned to dry pastels,
watercolors, and finally acrylic paints. I enjoy painting landscapes, still lives, and portraits. My art is
mainly figurative, as I always start with an object that captures my attention. However, as I paint, I
no longer need the object as much because the painting develops its own life and its own truth.
Paint spots create a color composition; one brushstroke leads to the next, and a tone in one area
calls for a response in another.
My favorite artists are French Impressionists (Monet, Pissarro), Post-Impressionists (Cézanne, Sisley,
Bonnard, Matisse, Van Gogh), the Italian Morandi, and Russian Kandinsky or Soutine. To keep this
list from being too long, I will not mention the Italian, Flemish, or Spanish great and well-known
artists. However, my brother Jan Rauchwerger was and remains my main mentor in the ways of art.