MOSHAV KIDRON, ISRAEL.-Artist Lea Nikel, 86, died in Moshav Kidron, Israel. She was born in 1918 in Zhitomir, Ukraine. She immigrated to Israel in 1920 and grew up in Tel Aviv. She studied with Gliksberg in 1935; 1946-47 with Avigdor Stematsky and Yehezkel Streichman. During the years 1950-61 she lived and worked in Paris; 1961-63 and 1964-65 in Ashdod, Israel; 1963-64 in New York; 1964 toured the Central African Republic; 1965-67 in Safed; 1967-70 in Rome; 1970-73 in Tel Aviv; 1973-77 in New York; 1977-80 returned to Tel Aviv. Her prizes include - 1968 The National Council of Culture and Art Prize, Ministry of Culture and Education, Jerusalem; 1972 Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art, Israel Museum, Jerusalem; 1982 Dizengoff Prize; 1987 Gamzu Prize; 1995 Israel Prize with Menachem Kadishman. She designed the set for Rena Sheinfeld Ballet Company. Exhibitions: 1964 -32nd Biennale, Venice; also Biennale in Santiago, London, Johannesburg, Venezuela and others; 1992 Expo in Sicily; 1995 Johannesburg Biennale.

She was nicknamed "queen of abstract painting" and "queen of color and composition" among her Israeli colleagues. She lived in Paris, New York, Rome and the Central African Republic. Her works are in several museums such as Tate Britain.