Abraham Palatnik

Abraham Palatnik
Born	(1928-02-02)February 2, 1928 Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil
Died	May 9, 2020(2020-05-09) (aged 92) Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Style	Kinechromatic art

Abraham Palatnik (February 2, 1928 – May 9, 2020) was a Brazilian abstract artist and inventor whose innovations include kinechromatic art.

Life

Palatnik was born in Natal, Rio Grande do Norte, lived from 1932 to 1947 in Israel before settling in Rio de Janeiro, where he spent most of his adult life. He was Jewish, and his parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. He moved to Mandatory Palestine as a child in 1932 and lived there until 1947. From 1942 to 1945 he studied at the Montefiori Technical School in Tel Aviv. He later took art classes at the Municipal Art Institute of Tel Aviv.

He is considered a pioneer of technological art in Brazil for his early use of mechanical systems and light. He exhibited some of his works in the First Biennial of São Paulo in 1951.

Two works by Palatnik are in the collection of the Museum of Modern Art. In 2013, a Palatnik work Sequencia Visual S-51 sold at Christie’s New York for $785,000 ($1,300,200 in current dollar terms).

Death

Palatnik died from COVID-19 on May 9, 2020 at the age of 92 in Rio de Janeiro.

Further reading

• Frederico Morais, Abraham Palatnik : A Pioneer of Technological Art.
• Michael Asbury, Some Notes on Abraham Palatnik’s Kinechromatic Apparatus, Essay on artist Abraham Palatnik in catalogue to accompany the exhibition 'Abraham Palatnik – A Reinvenção da Pintura', Museu de Arte Moderna de São Paulo (MAM-SP), Brazil, 2 July - 15 August 2014.