Nachum Gutman

Nachum Gutman mosaic wall at Herzliya Gymnasium (detail)

Nachum Gutman (alternate romanization: Nahum Gutman; Hebrew: נחום גוטמן‎: born October 5, 1898, died November 28, 1980) was a Russian-born Israeli painter, sculptor, and author.

Biography

Nachum Gutman was born in Teleneşti, Bessarabia Governorate (Moldova), 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, and two years later, to Ottoman Palestine. In 1908, Gutman attended the Herzliya Gymnasium in Tel Aviv. In 1912, he studied at the Bezalel School in Jerusalem. In 1920–26, he studied art in Vienna, Berlin and Paris.

Gutman was married to Dora, with whom he had a son. After Gutman's death in 1980, Dora asked two Tel Aviv gallery owners, Meir Stern of Stern Gallery and Miriam Tawin of Shulamit Gallery, to appraise the value all of the works left in his estate.^[1]

Artistic career

Gutman helped pioneer a distinctively Israeli style, moving away from the European influences of his teachers. He worked in many different media: oils, watercolours, gouache and pen and ink.^[2]

His sculptures and brightly colored mosaics can be seen in public places around Tel Aviv. Indoor murals depicting the history of Tel Aviv 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 Street, opposite the old Tel Aviv municipality building.^[3]

Gutman's artistic style was eclectic, ranging from figurative to abstract. Gutman was also a well-known writer and illustrator of children's books.

Awards and recognition

Mosaic fountain by Gutman, Bialik Street, Tel Aviv

Gutman received many art and literary prizes:^[4]

• 1938: Dizengoff Prize for painting (also in 1956)^[5]
• 1946: Lamdan Prize for children's literature
• 1955: Sicily Award for watercolor painting at the São Paulo Biennale
• 1956: Dizengoff Prize for painting (also in 1938)^[5]
• 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 University
• 1976: Honorary Citizen of Tel Aviv
• 1978: Israel Prize, for children's literature^[6]

The Nachum Gutman Museum, showcasing the artist's work, was established in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of Tel Aviv.^[7]

In 2005, he was voted the 110th-greatest Israeli of all time, in a poll by the Israeli news website Ynet to determine whom the general public considered the 200 Greatest Israelis.^[8]

Outdoor and public art

• 1961 A mosaic wall at the Chief Rabbinate building, Tel Aviv
• 1966 A mosaic wall at Migdal Shalom (Shalom Tower), Tel Aviv
• 1967 A mosaic wall for Herzliya high school, Tel Aviv
• 1976 History of Tel Aviv-Jaffa, mosaic, Bialik Square, Tel Aviv

Published works

• Path of the Orange Peels: Adventures in the Early Days of Tel Aviv (English translation: Nelly Segal) Dodd, Mead & Company, 1979
• "Seven Mills and Another Station" (Sheva T'khanot ve'od Takhana), Yavneh 1956
• "In the Land of Lobengulu King of Zulu", Massadah 1940

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

References

External links

• Nachum Gutman collection at the Israel Museum. Retrieved February 2012
• "Nachum Gutman". Information Center for Israeli Art. Israel Museum. Retrieved February 2012. 
• Art of Nachum Gutman at Europeana. Retrieved February 2012

• The Nachum Gutman Museum (in Hebrew and English)
• Nachum Gutman – Illustrates stories of the Bible Exhibition
• The Mosaics of Nachum Gutman