Lea Nikel(1918-2005) Born 1918 in Zhitomir, Ukraine and immigrated to Israel in 1920. Nikel settled in Tel Aviv and studied art with acclaimed artists such as Stematsky, Streichman and Gliksberg. Winner of the Sandberg Prize from the Israel Museum and the Israel Prize , the Gamzu Prize from the Tel Aviv Museum and the Dizengoff Prize from the municipality of Tel Aviv. An exceptional abstract expressionist(she was influenced by a European veign of abstract expressionism called "Tachisme", which was characterized by spontaneous brushwork, drips and blobs of paint straight from the tube), her works are in numerous museums including the Tate Gallery in London. Her lyrical paintings are marked by brilliant colors, great energy and a strong underlying structure. She has lived and worked in Paris (1950 - 61), New York (1960's and 1970's), Rome (1967 - 70), Central African Republic, and a number of cities in Israel. She died in 2005 in Tel Aviv, Israel.