Paul Palnik (March 28, 1946 – August 13, 2021)was an American artist, writer and educator. He was born in

Cleveland Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, Ohio, and resided in

Columbus, Ohio Columbus () is the state capital and the most populous city in the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., the second-most populous city in the Midwest, after Chicago, and t ...

. Palnik included

kabbalistic Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and Jewish theology, school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "rece ...

spiritual themes in his cartoons from the 1970s onward. His cartoons combined graphic design, drawing, poetry, and literature. The images were pen and ink drawings, often rendered in minute detail. The cartoons were like one-page books, dispensing

wit Wit is a form of intelligent humour, the ability to say or write things that are clever and usually funny. Someone witty is a person who is skilled at making clever and funny remarks. Forms of wit include the quip, repartee, and wisecrack. Form ...

wisdom Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to contemplate and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight. Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, ...

, and spiritual advice. Palnik's cartoons have been described as being balanced between universal, spiritual, prophetic themes, and the absurd. Many of Palnik's original drawings are in the collection of the

Ohio State University The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best publ ...

libraries in

. His work is also represented in the ''Muse'' magazine cartoon collection from the publishers of ''

The Smithsonian The Smithsonian Institution ( ), or simply the Smithsonian, is a group of museums and education and research centers, the largest such complex in the world, created by the U.S. government "for the increase and diffusion of knowledge". Founded ...

'' in Washington DC. Numerous large paintings by Palnik are in the collection of

Camp Ramah Camp Ramah ( he, מחנה רמה, Machaneh Ramah) is a network of Jewish summer camps affiliated with the Conservative Movement. The camps operate in the United States, Canada, and Israel. All Ramah camps serve kosher food and are '' Shabbat''-o ...

Conover, Wisconsin Conover is a town in Vilas County, Wisconsin, United States. The population was 1,235 at the 2010 census. The unincorporated community of Conover is located in the town. History The town is named after Seth H. Conover, a descendant of Wolphert ...

, where he was artist in residence for 15 years. His paintings strive to depict humanity's relationship with god.

References

External links

Official websiteArticle about Palnik
1946 births 2021 deaths American cartoonists Ohio State University alumni Artists from Cleveland Jews and Judaism in Cleveland Jewish American artists 21st-century American Jews {{US-cartoonist-stub