Yitzhak Frenkel (; 1899–1981), also known as Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter and sculptor, seen as the father of modern art in Israel. One of the most important Jewish artists of the l’École de Paris and its chief practitioner in Israel, gaining international recognition during his lifetime and exhibiting his work across the world. Considered the father of modern Israeli art. He is accredited with bringing the influence of the l’École de Paris to Israel, which until then was dominated by Orientalism. Early life: Odessa 1899-1919 Yitzhak Frenkel was born in 1899 in Odessa, Russian Empire. He was a great-grandson of the famous Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Berditchev. In his youth he studied in a yeshiva where he met Chaim Glicksberg. As a child he lived right next to Bialik's and Rawnitzki's publishing house "Moriah". In 1917, he studied under Aleksandra Ekster at the Fine Arts Academy in Odessa. Frenkel immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1919 as part of the first wave of settlers of the Third Aliyah. He died in Tel Aviv in 1981 and was buried in Safed. Revolutionizing Painting, 1920s and 1930s In 1920, he established the artists' cooperative in Jaffa and an artists' studio in Gymnasia Herzliya where gave lessons in painting and sculpture. Later that year, he traveled to Paris where he studied at the École des Beaux-Arts and at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière at the studios of the sculptor Antoine Bourdelle and painter Henri Matisse. At the time his painting were abstract. Towards the end of 1920, Frenkel Frenel traveled to Egypt where he showcased his works in an exhibition before returning to Paris. He exhibited at the Salon des Indépendants alongside other artists of his time, such as Soutine. They were both noticed by art critic Waldermar George. Waldermar George told Frenkel during the time "Do not return to Palestine, they will eat you there" (Frenkel would return in 1925). In 1924, the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian acquired two of his abstract paintings for an English collector. Frenkel returned to Palestine in 1925 where he revolutionized painting. He opened the Histadrut Art School in Tel Aviv. In Israel he was considered extreme in his artistic orientations. His students included Shimshon Holzman, Mordechai Levanon, David Hendler, Joseph Kossonogi, and Siona Tagger. He was a mentor to Bezalel students Avigdor Stematsky, Yehezkel Streichman, Moshe Castel, and Arie Aroch. All those who studied