Jerusalem - El Al (c.1960s)

Year: Undated (c.1960s)

Format: Matchbook

Illustrator: Jean David (1908-1993)

Client: El Al

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Details: The landscape artwork on this El Al matchbook is signed by Jean David (1908-1993).

Jean David was a painter and designer born in Bucharest, Romania. He studied at various art academies in Paris between 1927 and 1937, during which time he also exhibited his work and joined a group of Surrealists.

David fled Romania by boat during World War II and was captured by British authorities in Cyprus. Following his release in 1944, he was drafted into the British Brigade as a painter until 1946. He also went on to be drafted by the Israeli Navy and moved to Jerusalem in 1949. He co-founded the artist village known as Ein Hod in 1950.

David developed a reputation as a muralist, creating large-scale artworks for various hotels in Tel Aviv, the Weizmann Institute, the Technion−Israel Institute of Technology, Hebrew University and more. As a designer, he created posters and playing cards for El Al in the 1960s. He was also responsible for the interior design of El Al’s first Boeing aircraft and the airline’s passenger halls in New York and London.