Born in Sophia , Bulgaria, Gilboa was the son of one of the first Jewish journalists in Bulgaria from whom he undoubtedly inherited the gift of absorbing and reflecting every detail of the human experience. In 1937, he and his wife boarded an ancient broken down fishing vessel and entered as illegal immigrants into Palestine. With the aide of a rich and fertile imagination, Gilboa creates in his paintings a wide and grand perspective which envelopes a visual and spiritual panorama. The many figures which populate his paintings vary greatly in their activities, occupations and colors.