Among the hundreds of portraits that Litvinovsky painted over his lifetime, dozens dedicated to David Ben-Gurion (1886-1973), the first Prime Minister of the State of Israel, stand out. As highlighted in the selection presented here, through these works Litvinovsky demonstrates not only the different faces of the “old man,” but first and foremost his own ability as a painter and his development from the realistic, academic artistic style towards playfulness, realized in the spreading of colour spots and the dismantling of shapes and lines.
Litvinovsky's view is not a nostalgic one – Ben-Gurion was serving as Prime-Minister during the 1950s, at the time when these portraits were painted. The artist, known to refuse interviews, refrained from explaining the reason for his constant return to this subject in particular. Was this an attempt to iconize the father of the nation in recognition of his greatness? Or was it precisely Ben-Gurion's dominant rule that aroused the individualistic sensibilities in Litvinovsky who sought to express an artistic protest through portraying the leader's changing appearance? In any case, the distance of the years allows the modern viewer to see the historical figure of Ben-Gurion through the exploration of various aspects of his opinions and personality, similar to the changes reflected in Litvinovsky’s portraits.
