David Hendler was born in Kiev, today Ukraine, to a Hasidic family. When he was four, the family moved to Prague. As a teenager, he learned copper beating and tinsmithing, and found work in these trades. He also studied drawing privately with Prof. Pichel of the Academy of Art in Prague.

In 1924, he immigrated to the Land of Israel as a pioneer and joined Gdud Ha’avoda. From 1929, he devoted himself to painting.

In 1936, Hendler became a member of Massad, a group of young local artists. His work from that period shows the influence of modernist French painting. In the mid-1940s, Hendler met Aviva Uri, who began to study drawing with him. They married in 1963. In the 1950s, he rarely showed his work. In 1961, his drawings were...