Avi Katz ( he, אבי כץ; born 1949) is a veteran Israeli illustrator and cartoonist.

Early life and education

Katz was born in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, PA, USA. Throughout his years as a student in the Jewish day school system (Solomon Schechter and Akiba), he studied art at the Fleisher Art Memorial. He studied for three years at the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California) is a public land-grant research university in Berkeley, California. Established in 1868 as the University of California, it is the state's first land-grant u ...

, exhibiting two one-man shows, and in 1970 transferred to the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem, Israel. After graduating in Fine Arts in 1973, he decided to make his home permanently in Israel.

Career

After several years of teaching and exhibiting paintings, Katz opted for illustration as a full-time career. In the ensuing years he has illustrated some 160 books in Israel and the United States, most of them realistically drawn novels for young readers on real-life and historical subjects. Eight of his books won Israel's Ze'ev Prize, and four received

International Board on Books for Young People The International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY) is an international non-profit organization committed to bringing books and children together. The headquarters of the IBBY are located in Basel, Switzerland. IBBY history In 1952, Jella Lepm ...

Hans Christian Andersen Honors. In 2009, his ''JPS Illustrated Bible,'' authored by

Ellen Frankel Ellen Frankel (born 1951) was the Editor-in-Chief of the Jewish Publication Society (JPS) from 1991 until 2009, and also served as CEO of the JPS for 10 years. She retired in 2009 to pursue her own writing and scholarly projects, serving as JPS's f ...

, won the 2009 National Jewish Book Award for Illustrated Children's Book and was a Sidney Taylor Notable Book; ''The Waiting Wall'' was also a Taylor Notable. He is a member of

Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization that acts as a network for the exchange of knowledge between writers, illustrators, editors, publishers, agents, librarians, educators, booksellers ...

and the Israel Association of Illustrators.WorldCat author listing
/ref> Throughout the 1980s, Katz illustrated for the ''

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...

'' daily until its demise, and for the short-lived ''The Nation'', creating daily comic strips in both. From its first issue in 1990, he has been the staff artist of the bi-weekly news magazine ''

The Jerusalem Report ''The Jerusalem Report'' is a fortnightly print and online news magazine that covers political, security, economic, religious and cultural issues in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world. Founded as an independent weekly publication in 199 ...

''. Around 2014, the ''Jerusalem Report'' was making cuts to its staff and expenses, and Avi Katz was regretfully dropped from the publication. So many readers protested that he was reinstated, and he returned to great acclaim. He is a member of the Israel Society of Caricaturists and regularly exhibits in the Holon Museum of Cartoons and Comics. He is also active in the Cartooning for Peace program and has exhibited with this group around the world. Katz is a long-time science fiction and fantasy fan and is active in the Israeli Society for SF&F. He created all the cover paintings for the society's quarterly, ''The Tenth Dimension'', and has exhibited his art at

WorldCon Worldcon, or more formally the World Science Fiction Convention, the annual convention of the World Science Fiction Society (WSFS), is a science fiction convention. It has been held each year since 1939 (except for the years 1942 to 1945, during ...

. Katz lives in

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan ( he, רָמַת גַּן or , ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv and part of the Tel Aviv metropolitan area. It is home to one of the world's major diamond exchanges, and many ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. In 2018, Katz was fired by the Jerusalem Post shortly after publishing a cartoon of

Benjamin Netanyahu Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...

, depicting him and his entourage as pigs.

Family

He is married to the sculptor Rachel London Katz, and has three sons: violist Shmuel Katz; cellist Mickey Katz; and graphic designer Itamar Katz.

References

External links

Avi Katz's website
* https://web.archive.org/web/20100915041101/http://www.jewishbookcouncil.org/page.php?7 * http://www.ibby.org/index.php?id=270 Living people Israeli cartoonists Israeli illustrators 1949 births {{cartoonist-stub