Nahum Gutman
Encyclopedia
Painting
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface . The application of the medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other objects can be used. In art, the term painting describes both the act and the result of the action. However, painting is...
, sculptor
Sculpture
Sculpture is three-dimensional artwork created by shaping or combining hard materials—typically stone such as marble—or metal, glass, or wood. Softer materials can also be used, such as clay, textiles, plastics, polymers and softer metals...
, and author.
Early life
Gutman was born in TeleneştiTelenesti
Teleneşti is a city in Moldova, located 91 kilometres to the north of the capital city, Chişinău. Teleneşti is the administrative center of the eponymous district. Three villages are administered by the city: Mihălaşa, Mihălaşa Nouă and Izvoraş...
, Bessarabia
Bessarabia
Bessarabia is a historical term for the geographic region in Eastern Europe bounded by the Dniester River on the east and the Prut River on the west....
, Romania
Romania
Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeastern Europe, on the Lower Danube, within and outside the Carpathian arch, bordering on the Black Sea...
, then a part of the Russian Empire. He was the fourth child of Alter and Rivka Gutman. His father was a Hebrew writer and educator who wrote under the pen name S. Ben Zion. In 1903, the family moved to Odessa
Odessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
, and two years later, to Ottoman Palestine.
Artistic career
Gutman helped pioneer a distinctively Israeli style, moving away from the European influences of his teachers. He worked in many different media: oilsOil painting
Oil painting is the process of painting with pigments that are bound with a medium of drying oil—especially in early modern Europe, linseed oil. Often an oil such as linseed was boiled with a resin such as pine resin or even frankincense; these were called 'varnishes' and were prized for their body...
, watercolours
Watercolor painting
Watercolor or watercolour , also aquarelle from French, is a painting method. A watercolor is the medium or the resulting artwork in which the paints are made of pigments suspended in a water-soluble vehicle...
, gouache
Gouache
Gouache[p], also spelled guache, the name of which derives from the Italian guazzo, water paint, splash or bodycolor is a type of paint consisting of pigment suspended in water. A binding agent, usually gum arabic, is also present, just as in watercolor...
and pen and ink.
His sculptures and brightly colored mosaics can be seen in public places around Tel Aviv. Indoor murals depicting the history of Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
can be seen in the western wing of the Shalom Tower and the Chief Rabbinate building. A mosaic fountain with scenes from Jewish history stands at the corner of Bialik
Bialik
Bialik was originally a Polish/Czech surname before it was adopted by the Jewish population. The name probably originated from the Polish word Biały...
Street, opposite the old Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
municipality building.
Returning to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 1927, after a long sojourn in Europe, Gutman undertook the illustration of C.N. Bialik's writings until the poet's death in 1937. His Illustrations of Bialik's "Legends" were the peak of this project, and his style- monumental, sculptural, primitive, influenced by Assyrian sculpture and Persian miniature- perfectly suited Bialik's biblical themes. Gutman was one of the major formulators of Eretz Israel art-starkly simple, earthy and powerful, aggressively asserting its sense of place. The booklet of protest illustrations by Gutman, published immediately after the 1929 riots, was the first manifestation of the dashing of the Eretz Israel myth of Arab-Jewish integration. Gutman, as one of the formulators of the idealization of the Arab in art, was the first to respond to the new identity crisis facing the Eretz Israel Jew. He was to return to the depiction of the East in his later work.
Gutman's artistic style was eclectic, ranging from figurative to abstract. Gutman was also a well-known writer and illustrator of children's books.
Education
- 1908 Herzlia Gymnasium, Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1912 Art, Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design, Jerusalem.
- 1920–26 Art, ViennaViennaVienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Berlin and Paris
Awards and honours
Gutman received many art and literary prizes:- 1938: Dizengoff PrizeDizengoff PrizeThe Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937.The following is a table of Dizengoff Prize laureates in their respective art form:...
for painting (also in 1956) - 1946: Lamdan PrizeLamdan PrizeThe Lamdan Prize was an Israeli prize awarded annually, from 1954 to 1983, for literary works for children and youth.The prize was presented by the Ramat Gan Municipality in conjunction with the Hebrew Writers Association in Israel and was founded in the name of the Israeli poet and author Yitzhak...
for children's literature - 1955: Sicily Award for watercolor painting at the São Paulo Biennale
- 1956: Dizengoff Prize for painting (also in 1938)
- 1962: Hans Christian Andersen Literary Prize on behalf of Unesco for his book "Path of Orange Peels"
- 1964: Yatziv Prize
- 1969: Fichman Prize for Literature and Art
- 1974: Honorary Doctor of Philosophy from Tel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv UniversityTel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
- 1976: Honorary Citizen of Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1978: Israel PrizeIsrael PrizeThe Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
, for children's literatureChildren's literatureChildren's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...
The Nachum Gutman Museum, showcasing the artist's work, was established in the Neve Tzedek
Neve Tzedek
Neve Tzedek is a neighborhood located in southwestern Tel Aviv, Israel. It was the first Jewish neighborhood to be built outside the walls of the ancient port of Jaffa. For years, the neighborhood prospered as Tel Aviv, the first modern Hebrew city, grew up around it...
neighborhood of Tel Aviv.
In 2005, he was voted the 110th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet
Ynet
Ynet is the most popular Israeli news and general content website. It is owned by the same conglomerate that operates Yediot Ahronot, the country's secondleading daily newspaper...
to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.
Outdoor and public art
- 1961 A mosaic wall in the house of the Chief Rabbinate, Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1966 A mosaic wall in "Migdal Shalom", Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1967 A mosaic wall for the "Herzliya" high school, Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
- 1976 History of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, mosaic, Bialik Square, Tel AvivTel AvivTel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
Published works
- Path of the Orange Peels: Adventures in the Early Days of Tel Aviv (English translation: Nelly Segal) Dodd, Mead & Company, 1979
External links
- The Nachum Gutman Museum (in HebrewHebrew languageHebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and English) - Nachum Gutman – Illustrates stories of the Bible Exhibition
- The Mosaics of Nachum Gutman