Ephraim Doner

Ephraim Doner (1905 - 1991) was a Poland born American painter.
Froim Lejb Duner, from Serock, Poland, arrived in the USA on Nov 3, 1923 on the Belgenland, which departed from Antwerp (Passenger Records from Ellis Island).
Doner was a well know painter and personality in the Carmel Highlands / Big Sur area in California in the second half of the 20th century. Big Sur is a rugged stretch of California’s central coast between Carmel and San Simeon. Bordered to the east by the Santa Lucia Mountains and the west by the Pacific Ocean.
Doner was  ensconced in the local art and literary scene. He was a good friend of famous writer Henry Miller who wrote about him in his collection of essays, My Bike and Other Friends.
"Ephraim Doner's art is revealed through a magic mirror, a mirror deeply installed in his brain, behind the very roots of physical sight. It reflects the universal and eternal, rather than the localism and temporality seen by superficial artists.
This current display, in the gallery of the Owings house at Highlands, contains capital examples of his portraits, groups, landscapes, and tiles. Among the portraits, I would single out, perhaps arbitrarily, the ones of Mrs. Owings, Mrs. Roberts, Eric Barker, and the self-portrait. Those of women are marked by highly pleasing harmonies of color; all, by subtle characterization.
There are several pictures of crowds, deep-colored, mysterious, and surging with enigmatic activity, with the vital unrest of eternal generations.
The landscapes, too, seem to swell and surge with never-ceasing growth.
The tiles are unique. They depict the men, women, beasts and birds of new and as yet underrated fables. Here, in this small, hard medium, one finds sheer perfection.".