Rudi Lehmann

Rudi Lehmann

Rudi Lehmann (Hebrew: רודי להמן‎) was a German-born Israeli sculptor and woodcut artist.^[1] He was one of the pioneers of ceramic art in the State of Israel.^[2]

Rudolph ("Rudi") Lehmann was born in Berlin, Germany in 1903. In 1917-1922, he studied mechanics and worked as a blacksmith's apprentice. After studying woodcarving and sculpture with sculptor Harold Isenstein, he attended the municipal arts and crafts school in Berlin, majoring in sculpture and ceramics. During his studies there, he met Hedwig Grossman, whom he later married.^[3] In 1928-1930, Lehmann worked for Holzmann's Stone Mason and Carving company. He became a freelance stonemason and sculptor for museums around Germany, including the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and worked in terra cotta at Hedwig's ceramics workshop. In the summer of 1933, Lehmann immigrated to Mandate Palestine with his wife and settled in Haifa. They established a ceramics testing laboratory at the Technion in Haifa and settled on Kibbutz Yagur in 1935, where they established a flower pot factory.

In 1937, the couple opened a sculpture studio in Jerusalem, where Lehmann produced miniature carvings from olive wood, ivory, horn and gemstones sold as tourist souvenirs. In 1945-1947, Lehmann worked for the Haganah, building models and ballistic implements. In 1947-1948, he joined the Jewish Agency's Self-Defense Planning Committee.

Mural by Rudi Lehmann

In 1953, he helped to found the Ein Hod Artists' Village, where he taught sculpture. Among his students were Yigael Tumarkin^[4] and Menashe Kadishman.^[5] In 1959, Lehmann and his wife moved to Givatayim where he established an art school under the auspices of the Givatayim municipality. The school held classes in sculpture, woodcuts and ceramics for young people and adults.^[6]

Lehmann's work was influenced by the Canaanism school of Israeli art.^[7] which attempted to create a direct relationship with the Land of Israel by emphasizing simple shapes and motifs from the sculpture and ritual art of early Middle Eastern civilizations.^[8]

He died in 1977.

See also

• Visual arts in Israel

References