Israeli painter, muralist and sculptor (1924-2018)
Naftali Wahba Bezem (Hebrew : נפתלי בזם ; November 27, 1924 – October 2, 2018) was an Israeli painter, muralist and sculptor.[ 1] [ 2]
Biography
From Holocaust to Rebirth , cast aluminum sculpture by Naftali Bezem, 1970, Yad Vashem , Jerusalem, Israel . From left to right the four parts art titled The Destruction , Resistance , Immigration to Israel and Rebirth .
Young Girl with a Flower , oil on canvas painting by Naftali Bezem, 1959, private collection
Naftali Bezem was born in Essen, Germany , in 1924. His early adolescence was spent under Nazi oppression, in constant fear for the safety of his parents, who were later murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp . Naftali immigrated to Mandate Palestine in 1939, at the age of fourteen with a Youth Aliyah group. From 1943 to 1946, he studied art at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem with Israeli painter Mordecai Ardon . He then spent three years studying in Paris . Bezem's son Yitzhak was killed in the 1975 Zion Square refrigerator bombing in downtown Jerusalem .[ 3]
Art career
In addition to painting and sculpture, Bezem created murals, wall reliefs, tapestries, and stained glass windows.[ 4] His most famous public works include a wall relief at Yad Vashem in Jerusalem and the ceiling mural in the main reception room at the President's Residence, Jerusalem .
Awards and recognition
See also
References
Further reading
Naftali Bezem , Jerusalem, Debel Gallery , Ein Kerem , 1980
Ted W. Gross, Ben-Dov and I. Mintzer, The Passover Haggadah Illustrated by Naftali Bezem , Tel Aviv, 1982.
Matthias Kohn, Naftali Bezem , Bern, Benteli Verlag, 1998 (Editions in German and in English).
Open Museum, Naftali Bezem - Rope Ladder 1996-1999, Open Museum, 2000.
External links
International National Artists Other