Tribute Exhibitions to Gallerists: Nelly Aman, Ruth Debel, and Julie M. | Future exhibition | The Discount Bank Artistic Encouragement Prize
Upon completing its extensive renovation, the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art will inaugurate its renewed spaces with three research-based exhibitions dedicated to the unique life’s work of three groundbreaking women, owners of long-standing galleries, who left their mark on the Israeli art scene.
Nelly Aman, Ruth Debel, and Julie Mamon — active from the 1970s onward, the three worked across several decades, playing a pivotal role in advancing and shaping the field of art in Israel until the eventual closure of their galleries. Their interdisciplinary, open‑ended approach fostered a distinctive dialogic space within each gallery—one that vividly reflects the artistic spirit of its time. These exhibitions will open at the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art upon completion of its renovation project, marking the museum’s 50th anniversary.
From the committee’s statement of reasons:
“The Discount Bank Artistic Encouragement Prize is awarded this year for the realization of three research‑based exhibitions devoted to the work of three singular and trailblazing women—Nelly Aman, Ruth Debel, and Julie M. (Mamon)—who founded galleries that evolved into cultural institutions and exerted a profound influence on the development of Israeli art from the 1970s onward. All three are now in their ninth or tenth decades of life. For many years, the galleries they directed showcased leading artists active in Israel, and some of the finest works in the Discount Bank collection were acquired through them.”
Dr. Aya Lurie, Director and Chief Curator of the Herzliya Museum of Contemporary Art:
“The Herzliya Museum continues to spotlight artists – women and men alike – and key figures in the history of Israeli art, many of whom have been forgotten or, for various reasons and circumstances, were never given the exposure they deserved. The re-examination of the evolution of local artistic endeavor and canon allows us to read the fascinating story of the growth of culture in the place we live in from a contemporary interpretive perspective, and perhaps to retell it.”
