Ari Gradus was born in a small village in Israel in 1943. He began painting at the age of eight, at which time his work already showed unusual promise. By the time he was twelve he had won his first prize, a contest for junior artists sponsored by the city of Tel Aviv. Ari Gradus works in a style perhaps best described as naive, with a freshness and creativity uniquely his own. There is an almost childlike lack of inhibition about his paintings, endowing them with a charm and vivacity of color that truly set them apart.