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Thomas's Story
Thomas's Story
Thomas Ditroi
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Thomas Ditroi was born in 1950, in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. His mother, Agnes, loved art and was a history teacher. His father, Ervin, was a professor of art history, and so Thomas was exposed to plastic art from a very early age, and ever since, it was an essential part of his life.
In 1973 he graduated his M.A. studies in Plastic Arts from Ion Andreescu Institute of Art in Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
In 1974, Thomas immigrated to Israel. He started working as an art teacher in various schools, while working on his own art works, mainly sculptures. Between 1976-1991 he had numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Israel, Germany, Switzerland, Hungary and Romania.
It was at the age of 40 when Thomas felt he needed to search for his unique voice and for new ways of expression. Years later, he wrote:
“The desire to search for a more personal and authentic style led me to the difficult decision to stop sculpting for a while and to refrain from participating in further exhibitions. I devoted myself to an artistic quest, a kind that can be made possible only by disregarding the mainstream around me and disconnecting myself from it.”
One of Thomas’ great passions was diving. He was fascinated with the world under the sea, and that world had a large influence on him and on his artistic work. During one of his dives, Thomas found a special shell that evoked his first series of paintings- The Shell series.
“It took two years of experimenting until I discovered the infinite possibilities of self-inquiry and expression revealed to me by the Shell.
I dedicated myself to a dialogue with it for more than ten years, between 1991-2002. This unique experience is materialized in a cycle of 23 sizable paintings; a coherent metaphoric body which I consider to be my major work so far.”
“The desire to search for a more personal and authentic style led me to the difficult decision to stop sculpting for a while and to refrain from participating in further exhibitions. I devoted myself to an artistic quest, a kind that can be made possible only by disregarding the mainstream around me and disconnecting myself from it.”
One of Thomas’ great passions was diving. He was fascinated with the world under the sea, and that world had a large influence on him and on his artistic work. During one of his dives, Thomas found a special shell that evoked his first series of paintings- The Shell series.
“It took two years of experimenting until I discovered the infinite possibilities of self-inquiry and expression revealed to me by the Shell.
I dedicated myself to a dialogue with it for more than ten years, between 1991-2002. This unique experience is materialized in a cycle of 23 sizable paintings; a coherent metaphoric body which I consider to be my major work so far.”
Another great passion of Thomas was teaching art. He was connected to his students and wanted to let them explore their artistic talent in a special, supportive environment.
On 2002, he founded his art school- “HaDerech (“The Road”), where he taught sculpture and painting, and held a series of public lectures on art history. As Thomas said in one of the students’ exhibition openings:
“To me, describing our relationship as Teacher-Student is a partial definition. Many of you are actually young artists and I’m happy to contribute my knowledge and experience to the process. I’m glad everyone’s giving their best, trying to improve themselves- in my opinion, that is the essence of being an artist.”
On 2002, he founded his art school- “HaDerech (“The Road”), where he taught sculpture and painting, and held a series of public lectures on art history. As Thomas said in one of the students’ exhibition openings:
“To me, describing our relationship as Teacher-Student is a partial definition. Many of you are actually young artists and I’m happy to contribute my knowledge and experience to the process. I’m glad everyone’s giving their best, trying to improve themselves- in my opinion, that is the essence of being an artist.”
After completing The Shell series, which allegorically speaks also about sexuality, Thomas continued his exploration of this theme in a new series of paintings- Women (2002-2004).
Thomas came back to the Woman theme a few years later, in 2007-2009.
Thomas came back to the Woman theme a few years later, in 2007-2009.
Thomas continued to explore the relationship of the body within the framework and its environment in his next series of paintings, called The Shell in Net (2004-2007).
During these years, Thomas participated in several exhibitions in Israel and Germany. One of his most special projects was in 2011, when he designed the sculptures for the set of the opera Aida, which took place in Massadah, Israel. The set included a number of extremely large scale Egyptian sculptures.
In 2009, Thomas started working on what turned to be his last series of paintings- Anghiari. In this series, the eternal femininity competes with the destructiveness of war and violence, whose prototype is the Battle of Anghiari as represented by Leonardo da Vinci. Unfortunately, this group of paintings was left unfinished with Thomas’ sudden death at the age of 61.
After Thomas’ passing, his studio was turned into an art gallery, which attracted visitors and curators. Thomas' love for art and desire to create was deeply rooted in his students, who continued studying at HaDerech School, which continues to operate today.
Thomas has left us with a vast legacy- his series of paintings, sculptures and drawings. His artworks are continuing to be displayed in collections and exhibitions in Israel and abroad. His avant-garde artistic creation and his unique perception of art and life are being discovered and appreciated by more and more art lovers worldwid.
Thomas has left us with a vast legacy- his series of paintings, sculptures and drawings. His artworks are continuing to be displayed in collections and exhibitions in Israel and abroad. His avant-garde artistic creation and his unique perception of art and life are being discovered and appreciated by more and more art lovers worldwid.
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