Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.


Pamela Silver artist

Pamela Silver was born to a Jewish family in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1948. She graduated with a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Goldsmith’s College, University of London in 1971, and later trained as an artist at the Art Students League in New York, USA between 1982 and 1983. Known for her watercolours and prints related to gardens and flora, Silver has exhibited in London on several occasions, and has a particularly strong tie to Ben Uri.

Born: 1948 Johannesburg, South Africa

Year of Migration to the UK: 1970


Biography

Painter and printmaker Pamela Silver was born to a Jewish family in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1948. Four years later she moved with her family to Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, though she returned to South Africa in 1969 to study for a BA in History at the University of Cape Town. Following this, Silver moved to London where she gained a Postgraduate Certificate in Education from Goldsmith’s College, University of London in 1971. She moved to Israel in 1973, after which she developed a career as an artist. She studied at the Art Students League in New York, USA between 1982 and 1983. While only having lived in London for a short while, Silver subsequently developed strong connections there, in particular with the Ben Uri Art Society (later, Ben Uri Gallery and Museum).

Having exhibited in Jerusalem since 1984, Silver first showed her work in London at the National Society group exhibition at Smith’s Gallery, Covent Garden between 1987 and 1989. It was also at this time that she held her first solo exhibition at the Ben Uri Art Society in 1988. Entitled Pamela Silver: Watercolours from Jerusalem, the show was opened on 7 July by Lady Jakobovits, the charity patron who was an important figure in Jewish life in the UK and was married to Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. An article in the Jewish Chronicle recorded that Silver’s watercolours in the exhibition were 'rendered in a way that shows sophistication, intelligence and craftmanship', and that her 'colour scheme is well balanced, with many subtle, harmonious touches. She is an artist who knows well how to create lively, colourful, attractive pictures, whether in watercolours or oils, though she rarely penetrates beneath the surface' (Fealdman, 1988). Two of her paintings, Thinking (1987) and Zinnias (1988) were presented by the artist to the Ben Uri Collection. These works were subsequently included in the Prints and Sculpture from the Permanent Collection and Recent Acquisitions show held at Ben Uri in 1989.

While still living in Israel, Silver was involved in other exhibitions in London, such as Twelve Jerusalem Artists at Alexandra Palace in 1989. Silver then studied Printmaking with Sidon Rotenberg at the Jerusalem Print Workshop in 1992. Silver continued to develop her printmaking practice alongside her watercolours, studying monotypes at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design in Boston, USA in 1995, after which she created prints weekly at the Jerusalem Print Workshop. In 1999 Silver held her first solo exhibition in London since her 1989 watercolour show at Ben Uri, Magic House, presented at Leighton House Museum in Holland Park. In an interview with Silver for the Jewish Chronicle, the paper's art critic, Julia Weiner, wrote that the artist ‘paints each morning’, and that ‘While she tried to capture memories of gardens she has seen, she is influenced by her dreams and imagination.’ In addition to her own garden and those of her friends, her work for the exhibition was inspired by a recent trip to the famous Zen Gardens in Japan. ‘The excitement that this trip aroused is palpable in her work’, Weiner stated, ‘she adds gold and silver ink to the watercolour, conveying the exoticism she encountered, and uses Sumi ink to create calligraphic strokes to bring the Far East to mind’ (Weiner, 1999). Silver painted on Japanese hand-made paper, making the results difficult to predict and control.

While not being as present in UK exhibitions since the 1990s, in 2003 Silver was included in the Israeli Contemporary group show at the Robert Sandelson Gallery, London alongside other important artists from or working in Israel, such as Talia Israeli, Danil Gertman, Hadas Ophrat and Hanna Sahar. Silver also showed two works in the Royal Academy Summer Exhibition in 2015, and intaglio prints in The Masters group show, curated by English artist and printmaker Norman Ackroyd, at Bankside Gallery, London in 2016. She also presented her book of etchings to Ben Uri, with other copies held by the Victoria & Albert Museum (V&A) in London and the Israel Museum, Jerusalem. Pamela Silver lives and works in Motza Illit, near Jerusalem, and has exhibited internationally in Israel, Japan, Denmark, China and South Africa, among other locations. In the UK public domain, two of Silver’s watercolour works are held in the Ben Uri Collection.

Related books

  • Vivien Marcow Speiser, 'Artist spotlight: Interview with Pamela Silver: A Lifetime of Painting in Colors', Creative Arts in Education and Therapy – Eastern and Western Perspectives, Vol. 8, Iss. 2, December 2022, pp. 237-251
  • Judith Appleton, Pamela Silver: I See You (Jerusalem: Art House Gallery, 2012)
  • Julia Weiner, 'Silver Leaf', Jewish Chronicle, 9 April 1999, p. 26
  • Pamela Silver, A Journey Home to Zimbabwe: Watercolours (Harare: Mabat, National Gallery of Zimbabwe, 1995)
  • Julia Weiner and Walter M. Schwab eds., Jewish Artists: The Ben Uri Collection (London: Ben Uri Art Society, 1994), p. 147
  • Barry Fealdman, 'Painting with Intelligence', Jewish Chronicle, 15 July 1988, p. 19
  • Pamela Silver: Exhibition of Watercolours and Oil Paintings (London: Ben Uri Art Society, 1988)

Public collections

Related organisations

  • Art Students League of New York (student)
  • Goldsmith's College, University of London (student)
  • Jerusalem Print Workshop (student)
  • Massachusetts College of Art and Design, Boston (student)
  • University of Cape Town (student)

Related web links

Selected exhibitions

  • Still Waters into Living Colours, BYU Jerusalem Center (2023)
  • The Masters, Bankside Gallery, London (2016)
  • Summer Exhibition, Royal Academy, London (2015)
  • Israeli Contemporary, Robert Sandelson Gallery, London (2003)
  • Magic House, Leighton House Museum, London (1999)
  • Jewish Artists: Ben Uri Collection, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1994)
  • Prints and Sculpture from the Permanent Collection and Recent Acquisitions, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1989)
  • Twelve Jerusalem Artists, Alexandra Palace, London (1989)
  • Pamela Silver: Watercolours from Jerusalem, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1988)
  • National Society, Smith's Gallery, Covent Garden, London (1987-1989)
  Pamela Silver
   
Ben Uri collection

Pamela Silver in the Ben Uri collection

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Pamela Silver]

Ben Uri library

Publications related to [Pamela Silver] in the Ben Uri Library