Moshe Kupferman, 77, a leading Israeli abstract artist who was the only member of his family to survive the Holocaust, died Friday in Tel Aviv of a heart attack.

The artist held exhibitions at Paris' Musee National d'Art Moderne; the International Art Fair in Basel, Switzerland; and the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, Netherlands. In 1998, he displayed his art at the Moore College of Art and Design in Philadelphia. Last year, Jerusalem's Israel Museum held a major retrospective of his work.

Mr. Kupferman's abstract designs - painted primarily in violet, black, white and occasionally green - were influenced by his experiences as a Holocaust survivor.

"First I put in emotion and expression. Then I cover it up. Then I put in silence," he once said of his work.

Born in Jaroslav, Poland, Mr. Kupferman was the only member of his family to survive World War II, which he spent in a detention center in the Ural Mountains.

In 1948, Mr. Kupferman emigrated to Israel, where he helped found the Lohamei Hagetaot, or Ghetto Fighters, community together with other Holocaust survivors. He lived and worked there until his death.

Mr. Kupferman is survived by his wife, three daughters and a son. He was buried yesterday at Lohamei Hagetaot.