Igael Tumarkin (

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

: יגאל תומרקין; 23 October 1933 – 12 August 2021) was an Israeli painter and sculptor.

Biography

Peter Martin Gregor Heinrich Hellberg (later Igael Tumarkin) was born in 1933 in

Dresden Dresden (, ; Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; wen, label=Upper Sorbian, Drježdźany) is the capital city of the German state of Saxony and its second most populous city, after Leipzig. It is the 12th most populous city of Germany, the fourth larg ...

Saxony Saxony (german: Sachsen ; Upper Saxon: ''Saggsn''; hsb, Sakska), officially the Free State of Saxony (german: Freistaat Sachsen, links=no ; Upper Saxon: ''Freischdaad Saggsn''; hsb, Swobodny stat Sakska, links=no), is a landlocked state of ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. His father,

Martin Hellberg Martin Hellberg (also known as Martin Heinrich, 31 January 1905 – 31 October 1999) was a German actor, director and writer. Life Martin Hellberg was born in 1905 in Dresden, Saxony, Germany, as a son of a pastor. From 1922 to 1924, Martin Hell ...

, was a German theater actor and director, and a son of a

pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...

. His

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

mother, Berta Gurevitch, and his stepfather, Herzl Tumarkin,

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

to then

British Mandate of Palestine British Mandate of Palestine or Palestine Mandate most often refers to: * Mandate for Palestine: a League of Nations mandate under which the British controlled an area which included Mandatory Palestine and the Emirate of Transjordan. * Mandatory P ...

(now Israel) when he was two. Tumarkin served in the

Israeli Navy The Israeli Navy ( he, חיל הים הישראלי, ''Ḥeil HaYam HaYisraeli'' (English: The Israeli Sea Corps); ar, البحرية الإسرائيلية) is the naval warfare service arm of the Israel Defense Forces, operating primarily in ...

. After completing his military service, he studied sculpture in

Ein Hod Ein Hod ( he, עֵין הוֹד) is a village in Haifa District in northern Israel. Located at the foot of Mount Carmel and southeast of Haifa, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hof HaCarmel Regional Council and has the status of community set ...

, a village of artists near

Mount Carmel Mount Carmel ( he, הַר הַכַּרְמֶל, Har haKarmel; ar, جبل الكرمل, Jabal al-Karmil), also known in Arabic as Mount Mar Elias ( ar, link=no, جبل مار إلياس, Jabal Mār Ilyās, lit=Mount Saint Elias/Elijah), is a c ...

, under Rudi Lehmann. His youngest son is the actor

Yon Tumarkin Yon Tumarkin ( he, יון תומרקין; born 22 July 1989) is an Israeli actor and singer, best known for playing Leo in the TV series ''Split''. Early life Tumarkin was born and raised in Jaffa, Israel, to a family of Jewish descent. He i ...

. Tumarkin died at the age of 87 on 12 August 2021.

Art career

Among Tumarkin's best known works are the Holocaust and Revival memorial in

Rabin Square Rabin is a Hebrew surname. It originates from the Hebrew word ''rav'' meaning Rabbi, or from the name of the specific Rabbi Abin. The most well known bearer of the name was Yitzhak Rabin, prime minister of Israel and Nobel Peace prize Laureate. ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...

and his sculptures commemorate fallen soldiers in the

Negev The Negev or Negeb (; he, הַנֶּגֶב, hanNegév; ar, ٱلنَّقَب, an-Naqab) is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southe ...

. Tumarkin was also an art theoretician and stage designer. In the 1950s, Tumarkin worked in East Berlin, Amsterdam, and Paris. Upon his return to Israel in 1961, he became a driving force behind the break from the charismatic monopoly of lyric abstraction there. Tumarkin created assemblages of found objects, generally with violent expressionist undertones and decidedly unlyrical color. His determination to "be different" influenced his younger Israeli colleagues. The furor generated around Tumarkin's works, such as the old pair of trousers stuck to one of his pictures, intensified the mystique surrounding him. One of his controversial works is a pig wearing phylacteries (or tfilin, small boxes containing scriptures).

Education

* 1954 – Studied with Rudi Lehmann, Ein-Hod * 1955 Studied with Bertolt Brecht,

Berliner Ensemble The Berliner Ensemble () is a German theatre company established by actress Helene Weigel and her husband, playwright Bertolt Brecht, in January 1949 in East Berlin. In the time after Brecht's exile, the company first worked at Wolfgang Langhoff ...

, Berlin * 1955-57 Assistant to the designer Karl von Appen

Awards and recognition

* 1963 First Prize for Battle of Hulaykat Monument * 1968 The

Sandberg Prize The Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art refers to a prize for art and design awarded at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, with a particular focus on Israeli art. The prize was inaugurated in 1968 with funds from an anonymous New York–based donor. The pr ...

for Israeli Art,

Israel Museum The Israel Museum ( he, מוזיאון ישראל, ''Muze'on Yisrael'') is an art and archaeological museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world’s leading encyclopa ...

, Jerusalem, Israel * 1968 First Prize for Memorial to Sailors, Haifa * 1971 First Prize for Memorial for "Holocaust and Revival", Tel Aviv * 1978 First Prize in the Biennale for Drawing, Reike * 1984 Award from the President of the Italian Republic * 1985

Dizengoff Prize The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb ...

for Sculpture * 1990 Guest of the Japan Foundation * 1992 August Rodin Prize, The International Sculpture Competition of the Open Museum, Hakone, Japan, for his sculpture of the sign at the entrance to Auschwitz concentration camp Arbeit Macht Frei. * 1997 Award of Excellence, the President of the Federal Republic of Germany * 1998 Sussman Prize, Vienna * 2004

Israel Prize The Israel Prize ( he, פרס ישראל; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History The Israel Prize is awarded annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state cer ...

for sculpture

Outdoor and public art

Tumarkin created over 80 outdoor sculptures in Israel and around the world. Mitzpe Moav

* 1962-68 "Panorama", concrete and steel, Arad, Israel * 1962-69 "Age of Science", concrete and steel,

Dimona Dimona ( he, דִּימוֹנָה, ar, ديمونا) is an Israeli city in the Negev desert, to the south-east of Beersheba and west of the Dead Sea above the Arava valley in the Southern District of Israel. In its population was . The Shi ...

* 1963 "Vibrations A & B", concrete,

Kiryat Yam Kiryat Yam ( he, קִרְיַת יָם, lit. ''Sea Town'') is a city in the Haifa Bay district of Israel, north of Haifa. One of a group of Haifa suburbs known as the Krayot, it is located on the Mediterranean coast, between Kiryat Haim and the T ...

and "Window to the Sea", concrete,

Atlit Atlit ( he, עַתְלִית, ar, عتليت) is a coastal town located south of Haifa, Israel. The community is in the Hof HaCarmel Regional Council in the Haifa District of Israel. Off the coast of Atlit is a submerged Neolithic village. Atli ...

* 1964-65 "Monument for the Holocaust", concrete and steel, Nazareth * 1966 "Peace Memorial", Hebron Road, Jerusalem *1967 “He Walked in the Fields” *1968 Arad Observatory sculpture * 1968 "Big Chief", tank assemblage painted,

Kiryat Shmona Kiryat Shmona ( he, קִרְיַת שְׁמוֹנָה, ''lit.'' Town of the Eight) is a city in the Northern District of Israel on the western slopes of the Hula Valley near the Lebanese border. The city was named after the eight people, includi ...

* 1969-71 "War and Peace", steel and stone, Ramat Gan * 1970 "Keystone Gate", painted steel, Jerusalem * 1970 "Homage to Dürer, painted steel, Haifa * 1971 "Homage to Jerusalem", Givat Shapira * 1971 Sculpture Garden, 61 Weizmann Street, Holon * 1971-75 "Monument to the Holocaust and Revival", corten and glass, Tel Aviv * 1972 "Happenings and Homage to Kepler", concrete and painted steel, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv; "Sundial Garden", concrete, Ashkelon; and "Monument to the Fallen", concrete painted white and steel, Jordan Valley * 1972-73 "Airport Monument", painted steel, Lod * 1973 "Challenge to the Sun", Ramot Alon, Jerusalem * 1986 "Chichen Itzma", Kiryat Menahem, Jerusalem * 1986 Pisgat Zeev, Jerusalem * 1989 Homage to

Robert Capa Robert Capa (born Endre Ernő Friedmann; October 22, 1913 – May 25, 1954) was a Hungarian-American war photographer and photojournalist as well as the companion and professional partner of photographer Gerda Taro. He is considered by some to ...

Pozoblanco Pozoblanco () is a town in the Córdoba Province, Spain, province of Córdoba, southern Spain, in the north-central part of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. It is located near the headwaters of the Guadamatil ...

, Spain * 1989 La Liberte, Bordeaux, France * 1991

Bertolt Brecht Eugen Berthold Friedrich Brecht (10 February 1898 – 14 August 1956), known professionally as Bertolt Brecht, was a German theatre practitioner, playwright, and poet. Coming of age during the Weimar Republic, he had his first successes as a pl ...

, Berlin Museum Garden * 1992 "Jerusalem – Three Faiths",

Mount Scopus Mount Scopus ( he, הַר הַצּוֹפִים ', "Mount of the Watchmen/ Sentinels"; ar, جبل المشارف ', lit. "Mount Lookout", or ' "Mount of the Scene/Burial Site", or ) is a mountain (elevation: above sea level) in northeast Je ...

, Jerusalem * 1993 Semaphore,

Weizmann Institute of Science The Weizmann Institute of Science ( he, מכון ויצמן למדע ''Machon Vaitzman LeMada'') is a public research university in Rehovot, Israel, established in 1934, 14 years before the State of Israel. It differs from other Israeli unive ...

Rehovot Rehovot ( he, רְחוֹבוֹת ''Rəḥōvōt'', ar, رحوڤوت ''Reḥūfūt'') is a city in the Central District of Israel, about south of Tel Aviv. In it had a population of . Etymology Israel Belkind, founder of the Bilu movement, ...

* 1993 My Seven Pillars of Wisdom,

Hakone is a town in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan. , the town had a population of 11,293 and a population density of 122 persons per km². The total area of the town is . The town is a popular tourist destination due to its many hot springs and views of ...

Open Air Museum, Japan * 1994–96 The Sculpture Garden of Belvoir (Kochav HaYarden) * 1997 Memorial for

Yitzhak Rabin Yitzhak Rabin (; he, יִצְחָק רַבִּין, ; 1 March 1922 – 4 November 1995) was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77, and from 1992 until h ...

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 ...

Museum * 2000 Abu Nabut Garden,

Jaffa Jaffa, in Hebrew Yafo ( he, יָפוֹ, ) and in Arabic Yafa ( ar, يَافَا) and also called Japho or Joppa, the southern and oldest part of Tel Aviv-Yafo, is an ancient port city in Israel. Jaffa is known for its association with the b ...

References

External links

* * * * Amnon Teitelbaum
Land, Wind and Rust
- a Portrait of an Artist (Documentay) (2000) {{DEFAULTSORT:Tumarkin, Igael 1933 births 2021 deaths Israeli Jews Israel Prize in sculpture recipients Israeli sculptors Sandberg Prize recipients People from Dresden Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Israeli people of German descent