Yigal Ozeri is a New York-based Israeli artist widely recognized as a master of contemporary Photorealism. He is best known for his large-scale oil portraits that bridge the gap between cinematic photography and classical painting.

Ozeri’s work is characterized by an ethereal, romantic sensibility. While he is often categorized under the Photorealism movement, he considers himself a figurative artist.

Ozeri begins by photographing his subjects—often women in natural or urban settings—capturing thousands of digital images. He then uses these as references, meticulously translating them onto canvas or paper with thousands of tiny, almost imperceptible brushstrokes. His paintings frequently feature a shallow depth of field, where the subject remains in sharp focus against a hazy, blurred background. This technique mimics the "bokeh" effect of a digital lens. He draws significant inspiration from Pre-Raphaelite painters like Dante Gabriel Rossetti and John Everett Millais, as well as Spanish Baroque masters like Diego Velázquez.

His most iconic body of work involves young women in vast, sun-drenched landscapes (rainforests, deserts, and meadows), exploring themes of femininity and a "revitalized connectivity to nature." In recent years, Ozeri has pivoted to capturing the grit and nostalgia of New York City, focusing on diners, subways, and street scenes. A more recent shift involves a series of portraits of legendary art figures, including Andy Warhol, Gerhard Richter, Yayoi Kusama, and Ai Weiwei.

His work is held in prestigious permanent collections worldwide, including:

• The Whitney Museum of American Art (New York)

• The Albertina (Vienna)

• The Israel Museum (Jerusalem)

• The Jewish Museum (New York)

Ozeri has exhibited globally, notably participating in the traveling exhibition "50 Years of Hyperrealistic Painting," which visited the Museum Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid and the Birmingham Museum & Art Gallery.

Yigal Ozeri images