The Ilana Goor Museum was opened to the public during September 1995.

The museum is located in a structure overlooking the port of Jaffa which used to serve as a seaside inn for pilgrims who seeked shelter on their way to Jerusalem. Two hundered and fifty years ago this house was the first stop for pilgrims who entered the Holy Land.

The massive walls of the structure are in correlation with the architecture of the era and the function it was meant to fulfill: a haven for pilgrims, since it is located out side the walls of the old city.

Today, in the shining, restored citadel of ancient Jaffa in Israel, the city’s first Jewish hostel has been transfigurated by the vision of one artist into a sanctuary of different kind. Ilana Goor, internationally renowned artist, designer and sculptress, has created an odyssey of the soaring spirit: a museum.

The museum presents many of Ilana's art works, and quite a few creations by Israeli and international renowned artists.

Out of love for her surroundings, Ilana has merged a four thousand year old facility with modern art. The museum is the embodiment of everything she believes in and is molded in the shape of her homeland: the old with the new, the rural along side the industrial, the organic framed inside the geometrical- two combined worlds becoming a complimentary, equalized and tolerant unity.

The combination of the old with the new exists in many art works in the museum, and leads to a discussion about the “ready made” art. It is a reoccurring motif both in Ilana’s work and in the work of other artists shown in the museum.

The museum serves today as the artist’s home, and the visitors are invited to explore the chambers she has set before them.

Gracing the rooms are Ilana Goor’s life works: sculptures, jewelry and furniture created from wood, glass, bronze and iron; collection of etchings, paintings, casting and carvings she has gathered from around the globe.

In the museum there is a gallery that exhibits Ilana’s work: sculptures, jewelry and furniture.

Ilana Goor- The Artist

Ilana Goor was born in Tiberias, Israel into a well- known family of doctors, many of whom were also artists. Her grandfather, Yossef Sapir, was one of the founders of the Bezalel School of Art.

Ilana began sculpting in Los Angeles in the late 60’s and in 1972 the Los Angeles State Museum presented a one woman show of Ilana Goor.

The artists statues were installed in the Yad Vashem Memorial Museum, Jerusalem, and in many outdoor settings in Tel Aviv, Haifa, and other cities throughout Israel. Many of Ilana Goor’s works are owned by important private collectors.

Goor presented exhibitions at Venturairte Multiscultra, Bologna, Italy; Katia Granoff Gallery, Paris, France; Spectrum Gallery, Vienna, Austria; Thorens Modern Art Gallery, Basil, Switzerland; Larry Aldridge Museum, Ridgefield, Conn.; Horace Richter Gallery, Jaffa, Israel; Kunst Gallery, Al Vlaaringen, Netherlands; and Ingrid Mensendich Gallery, Dusseldorf, Germany.

In 1983, Ms. Goor designed buckles and sold belts to most major department stores in America including I Magnin, Neiman Marcus, Bloomingdales, Macy’s, Sacks Fifth Avenue.

In 1986, Ilana Goor introduced a collection of iron furniture and accessories to the American marketplace as limited editions signed by Ilana .

In 1989, Ilana created a line of jewelry being presently sold in Japan and a bronze collection of furniture and accessories for the markets of Japan and the U.S.

Her works are presently displayed in sixteen decorator and designer showrooms throughout the United States. Her iron furniture collection was displayed in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem in 1987 and she was awarded the Roscoe award for the best design in residential seating in 1988.

In 1993, Ilana Goor introduced her contract collection of furniture in Japan along with her second collection of jewelry.

During 1994, Ilana Goor completed a new line of furniture introducing the use of wood together with glass and iron, and a new series of assemblages of farming tools as an art form. These works which assemble old plows, shredders are the artist’s “back to nature” statement, while living and creating on the Mediterranean Sea. That year was also the year in which the corner stone to the “Ilana Goor Museum” was set.

Goor never studied art formally. Her art developed within her as did technique, resulting in an independent, uncompromising style and powerful works which combine strength and emotion. Goor’s works are based on realistic images and figures and are characterized by different proportions and textures of the materials.

Ilana Goor Museum
Mazal dagim 4, old Jaffa, Israel.
Tel. 972-3-6837676
Fax. 972-3-6836699
www.ilanagoor.com

For more information, contact:

Amit Schwartz- Tourism Marketing Director

Sources: Ilana Goor Museum

Museums in Israel: Ilana Goor Museum