' fill='%230E4F97'%3E%3Cg id='Group-5' transform='translate(370.000000, 11.000000)'%3E%3Cg id='avatar' transform='translate(6.000000, 4.000000)'%3E%3Ccircle id='Oval' cx='8' cy='4' r='4'%3E%3C/circle%3E%3Cpath d='M7.12864205,10 L8.87135795,10 C11.558649,10 14.0087196,11.5384024 15.1762205,13.958831 L16,15.6666667 L16,15.6666667 L15.3374858,17.5134983 C15.228016,17.8186575 14.9774027,18.051811 14.6651459,18.1389975 L8,20 L8,20 L1.33485405,18.1389975 C1.02259733,18.051811 0.771984007,17.8186575 0.662514216,17.5134983 L0,15.6666667 L0,15.6666667 L0.823779545,13.958831 C1.99128041,11.5384024 4.44135104,10 7.12864205,10 Z' id='Rectangle'%3E%3C/path%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/g%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Advocacy Through Art: Elisabetta Furcht is Painting with Purpose
Italian artist Elisabetta Furcht has embraced an honorable mission: completing a watercolor painting every day to raise awareness for the Israeli hostages in Gaza. At a time when words can be difficult to find, Elisabetta’s paintings have captured our emotions through every benchmark in the harrowing time since October 7th, 2023.
Each day, Elisabetta paints a new watercolor that’s relevant to recent developments. They portray our losses, our triumphs, and our unrelenting hope to bring them home. Every beautiful and haunting image includes the following caption:
“I have painted every hostage held in Gaza. Now I am painting their families and telling more stories about them. I can’t stop thinking of them. I’m a mother too.
I am painting a sketch a day until all the hostages come back home safe, in order to raise awareness. Families must not feel alone or forgotten.”
Leah Grossman: Elisabetta, your work is absolutely beautiful. Thank you for helping to bring awareness to the hostages—it’s so important they are not forgotten. How did you come up with the idea to paint a watercolor every day?
Elisabetta Furcht: First of all, thank you. I started to paint quick portraits of the hostages as a personal therapy to deal with my own horror for October 7th, and then I realized my sketches were also a daily reminder of the captives, as well as a sign of comfort and support for families. There is nothing else I can paint right now until the hostages are back. Many of them are my son’s age; others could be my brothers.
LG: It’s hard to believe this has been going on for so long. When you started this project, did you ever imagine you’d be painting for more than 570 days (and counting)? How has this undertaking impacted your life?
EF: This is a very good question! I thought it was a matter of days, weeks at most, and then the hostages would return and I could go back to painting my usual subjects. I grew up with the idea that saving lives is a fundamental Jewish value: “Whoever Saves a Life Saves the World.” I thought this was going to be a second Entebbe Raid. I was wrong…
These sketches soon became my mitzvah for the hostages. I cannot let a day go by without my sketch for the hostages. I must fit it in my agenda, which can be quite busy. If I know that one day I cannot paint (for instance, if I am traveling for my work), I prepare my sketch the previous evening. It requires good organization, but it is absolutely worthwhile for me, and I hope for others too.
LG: In our early discussions, you described yourself as “not really Jewish.” Please tell us about your background and how you came to feel such compassion towards the hostages and their families.
EF: I am Jewish on my father’s side, which means that for many I am not “properly” Jewish. However, I never doubted my Jewish identity. I found out that I was not “properly” Jewish only when I was twelve! My father, Roberto, was a Holocaust survivor, a hidden child whose life was saved by Catholic priests in Como, Italy. My Great Grandparents were murdered by Nazis during the Shoah. I carry the “first generation syndrome.”
If my Jewish Neshama was dormant, October 7th definitely made me realize that, in my own eyes, I am a Jew! October 7th brought back all the nightmares that haunted my childhood. Knowing the world was silent during WW2, I knew I couldn’t be silent while the hostages are still in Gaza, kept in inhumane conditions. I think of them night and day.
LG: Is it true you’re self-taught and didn’t start painting until later in life? Quite impressive! What do you enjoy painting when you’re not advocating for the hostages? How can people support your work?
EF: I am the perfect mixture of an Italian mom and a Yiddishe mame: needless to say, when my only son left for college, I was completely lost! He was so smart and kind to buy me a watercolor set as a consolation prize. I started sketching and never stopped!
I enjoy painting quick sketches in pen and watercolor from my everyday life: my dogs, the food I eat, places I visit. I believe talent is overrated, and practice is much more important: as you know, I like to take some “me time” every day to sketch.
Watercolor has become such an important part of my life that I am currently teaching a few watercolor classes online on Skillshare. I have also a YouTube channel about watercolor supplies and pigments, which is followed by a growing community of color fans just like myself.
There’s nothing more admirable than those who take it upon themselves to help, using their skills and talents for good. Elisabetta—thank you for your advocacy, and for sharing your beautiful work with the world. It’s appreciated more than you know.
As much as we enjoy seeing your watercolors every day, I think we can all agree we’re long overdue for a content change. With great anticipation, we look forward to the day we can delight in your paintings of dogs and Italian cuisine rather than hostages and heartache.
Let our people go. NOW.
To support Elisabetta’s work, you can find her classes on Skillshare, watch her videos on YouTube, and follow her on Instagram.
