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Beyond his works on paper, Podwal’s artistry has been employed in an array of diverse projects, including the design of a series of decorative plates for the
''House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague''
narrated by Claire Bloom. In 2009 and 2010, the film was broadcast on PBS. In conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, Podwal began ''The Jerusalem Sky Project'', a program that fosters tolerance and awareness by bringing together young children from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities. Participating religious schools study Podwal's ''Jerusalem Sky'' in their classrooms, and then encourage their students to illustrate their own depictions of Jerusalem. Amidst the learning, the children of each school write to or meet with their counterparts at a school of another faith and begin to learn about each other's religion and culture. After a few weeks, the program culminates with an exhibition of all of the drawings from each of the schools. At the opening of the exhibition, the children meet to enjoy each other's art and company. In a 2005 article called "Three Faiths, One Lesson", the ''New York Times'' covered the completion of the program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY. The project has since also been carried out in Los Angeles, CA, and Binghamton, NY. Regarding ''Jerusalem Sky'', renowned children’s author Maurice Sendak wrote, "All the earned and admiring praise – wondrous, luminous, magical – cannot catch the fierce bite, healthy spirit, and sheer joyousness of this superb book." In 2011, Podwal received commissions to illustrate a new Passover ''
An Illustrated Saga of the Diaspora
. ''
1989: The Society of Newspaper Design Award
1993: Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1996: Officier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1998:
1999: Society of Illustrators Silver Medal
1999:
2003: Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa,
2009: Smithsonian Notable Book for Children
2010:
2011: Foundation for Jewish Culture Achievement Award
2012:
2019: Gratias Agit Award
HOUSE OF LIFE: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague
(Produced by Mark Podwal and Allan Miller)
2013
My Synagogue is in Prague: Picturing Mark Podwal
(Produced by Czech Television)
2015
ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US: Mark Podwal's Art for Terezin
(Produced by Czech Television)
1971: ''The Decline and Fall of the American Empire''. Introduction by Peter Fonda. New York: Darien House
1978: ''A Book of Hebrew Letters''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1982: ''Leonardo di Freud''. Milan: Sperling and Kupfer Editori
1984: ''A Jewish Bestiary''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1994: ''The Book of Tens''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1995: ''Golem: A Giant Made of Mud''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: ''The Menorah Story''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2003: ''A Sweet Year''. New York: Random House
2005: ''Jerusalem Sky''. New York: Random House
2007: ''Doctored Drawings''. New York: Bellevue Literary Press
2009: ''Built by Angels''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2015: ''Jüdisches Bestiarium''. Berlin: Hentrich & Hentrich
2016: ''Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art''. New York: Glitterati, Inc.
2018: ''Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka''. Amherst: Yiddish Book Center
2021: ''A Collage of Customs: Iconic Jewish Woodcuts Revised for the Twenty-First Century''. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press
2021: ''A Jewish Bestiary: Fabulous Creatures from Hebraic Legend and Lore''. University Park: Penn State University Press
SELECTED ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
1972: ''Let My People Go: A Haggadah''. Introduction by Theodore Bikel. Foreword by Abba Eban. New York: Macmillan
1972: ''The Book of Lamentations''. New York: The National Council on Art in Jewish Life
1979: Klagsbrun, Francine. ''Voices of Wisdom''. New York: Pantheon
1983: Schwartz, Howard. ''The Captive Soul of the Messiah''. New York: Schocken Books
1985-1988: ''The Elie Wiesel Collection''. Paris: The Bibliophile Library (Fourteen volumes)
1988: Wiesel, Elie. ''The Six Days of Destruction.'' Mahwah: Paulist Press
1993: Wiesel, Elie. ''A Passover Haggadah''. New York: Simon and Schuster
1996: Klagsbrun, Francine. ''Jewish Days''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
1996: Prose, Francine. ''Dybbuk: A Marriage Made in Heaven''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1997: Prose, Francine. ''The Angel's Mistake: Stories of Chelm''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Prose, Francine. ''You Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed-vavniks''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Wiesel, Elie. ''Le Golem: Legende d’une legende''. Paris: Bibliophane/Editions du Rocher
1999: Sobel, Ileene Smith. ''Moses and the Angels''. Introduction by Elie Wiesel. New York: Delacorte Press
1999: Wiesel, Elie. ''King Solomon and His Magic Ring''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2000: Prose, Francine. ''The Demons’ Mistake: A Story from Chelm''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2007: Bloom, Harold. ''Fallen Angels.'' New Haven: Yale University Press
2012: Yoffie, Alan S. ''Sharing the Journey: The Haggadah for the Contemporary Family''. New York: CCAR Press
2014: ''Mishkan T’filah for Youth''. New York: CCAR Press
2014: Middleburgh, Charles and Goldstein, Andrew. ''A Jewish Book of Comfort''. Norwich: Canterbury Press
2018: ''Mishkan HaNefesh for Youth''. New York: CCAR Press
2019: ''Heine, Heinrich. Hebrew Melodies''. University Park: Penn State University Press
2020: Elie Wiesel. ''The Tale of a Niggun''. New York: Schocken Books
2021: Van Pelt, Robert Jan. ''How Beautiful Are Your Tents Jacob: An Atlas of Jewish Space''. Zurich: Park Books
SOLO EXHIBITIONS CATALOGUES
1977: ''Observations''. Berkeley: Judah L. Magnes Museum
1990: Ozick, Cynthia. ''Ink and Inkling: Mark Podwal Master of the True Line''. South Hadley: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
1997: Wiesel, Elie. ''Mark Podwal: Jewish Dreams''. Prague: Jewish Museum
2006: ''Kabbalistics''. New York: Forum Gallery
2012: Carlebach, Elisheva. ''Jewish Magic in the Art of Mark Podwa''l. Prague: Jewish Museum
2014: ''All this has come upon us''. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
2020: ''Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka''. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
in ''Religion & Ethics News Weekly'' (PBS), February 17, 2006 (Episode no. 925) *Random House
Mark Podwal: author spotlight
*Somerstein, Rachel
Mark Podwal: Yeshiva University Museum
in ''ARTnews'', June 2006 *Wecker, Menachem
in "The Jewish Press", October 2008, an
in "The Jewish Press", July 2007
MarkPodwal.comForum Gallery: Mark PodwalHouse of Life
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podwal, Mark Living people 1945 births American artists Physicians from New York City Jewish American artists American Book Award winners Writers from New York City 21st-century American Jews
Mark Podwal (born June 8, 1945) is an artist, author, filmmaker and physician. He may have been best known initially for his drawings on
"> His art is represented in the collections of the The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
Op-Ed page. In addition, he is the author and illustrator of numerous books. Most of these works — Podwal's own as well as those he has illustrated for others— typically focus on Jewish legend, history and tradition.Cynthia Ozick
Cynthia Ozick (born April 17, 1928) is an American short story writer, novelist, and essayist.
Biography
Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City, the second of two children. She moved to the Bronx with her Belarusian-Jewish parents from Hlusk, ...Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, the Israel Museum, the National Gallery of Prague
The National Gallery Prague ( cz, Národní galerie Praha, NGP), formerly the National Gallery in Prague (), is a state-owned art gallery in Prague, which manages the largest collection of art in the Czech Republic and presents masterpieces of Cze ...
, the Jewish Museums in Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and List of cities in Germany by population, largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European Union by population within ci ...
, Vienna
en, Viennese
, iso_code = AT-9
, registration_plate = W
, postal_code_type = Postal code
, postal_code =
, timezone = CET
, utc_offset = +1
, timezone_DST ...
, Stockholm, Prague
Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and List of cities in the Czech Republic, largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 milli ...
, New York, among many other venues.
Projects and Installations
Beyond his works on paper, Podwal’s artistry has been employed in an array of diverse projects, including the design of a series of decorative plates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
: ''Passover Plate'', ''Zodiac Platter'' (Met Bestseller), and ''Life Cycle'' (Met Bestseller). His work has been animated for public television in ''A Passover Seder with Elie Wiesel'' (Time Warner), engraved on a Congressional Gold Medal
The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...
presented by President Reagan to Elie Wiesel, and woven into an Aubusson tapestry that adorned the ark in the main sanctuary of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. Moreover, he designed sixteen kiln cast glass panels for the United Jewish Appeal Federation Headquarters in New York. Podwal collaborated with Academy Award winning filmmaker Allan Miller on the documentar''House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague''
narrated by Claire Bloom. In 2009 and 2010, the film was broadcast on PBS. In conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, Podwal began ''The Jerusalem Sky Project'', a program that fosters tolerance and awareness by bringing together young children from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities. Participating religious schools study Podwal's ''Jerusalem Sky'' in their classrooms, and then encourage their students to illustrate their own depictions of Jerusalem. Amidst the learning, the children of each school write to or meet with their counterparts at a school of another faith and begin to learn about each other's religion and culture. After a few weeks, the program culminates with an exhibition of all of the drawings from each of the schools. At the opening of the exhibition, the children meet to enjoy each other's art and company. In a 2005 article called "Three Faiths, One Lesson", the ''New York Times'' covered the completion of the program at the Brooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY. The project has since also been carried out in Los Angeles, CA, and Binghamton, NY. Regarding ''Jerusalem Sky'', renowned children’s author Maurice Sendak wrote, "All the earned and admiring praise – wondrous, luminous, magical – cannot catch the fierce bite, healthy spirit, and sheer joyousness of this superb book." In 2011, Podwal received commissions to illustrate a new Passover ''
Haggadah
The Haggadah ( he, הַגָּדָה, "telling"; plural: Haggadot) is a Jewish text that sets forth the order of the Passover Seder. According to Jewish practice, reading the Haggadah at the Seder table is a fulfillment of the mitzvah to each J ...
'' for the Central Conference of American Rabbis Press; to design new embroidered textiles for Prague's 700-year-old Altneuschul; to create a limited edition print for the Metropolitan Opera's production of ''Nabucco''; and to design ''Hanukkah
or English translation: 'Establishing' or 'Dedication' (of the Temple in Jerusalem)
, nickname =
, observedby = Jews
, begins = 25 Kislev
, ends = 2 Tevet or 3 Tevet
, celebrations = Lighting candles each night. ...
'' cards for the Metropolitan Museum and the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2014, the Terezin Ghetto Museum exhibited Podwal’s cycle ''All This Has Come Upon Us'', a series of 42 paintings and drawings created especially for that venue.Kestenbaum, Gloria (October 23, 2014).An Illustrated Saga of the Diaspora
. ''
The Jewish Week
''The Jewish Week'' is a weekly independent community newspaper targeted towards the Jewish community of the metropolitan New York City area. ''The Jewish Week'' covers news relating to the Jewish community in NYC. In March 2016, ''The Jewish W ...
''. jewishweek.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved November 24, 2017.
The works, which span Jewish history from the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem, through the history of anti-Semitism
Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism.
Antis ...
and persecution in Europe, culminating in the Holocaust
The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...
, have been described by the artist as offering "a disturbing reminder of how Europe’s extensive history of 'Jew-hatred' laid the groundwork for Terezin and Auschwitz". The series has been published as a portfolio of archival pigment prints, which has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Library of Congress, Yad Vashem, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, the Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University Library
Princeton University Library is the main library system of Princeton University. With holdings of more than 7 million books, 6 million microforms, and 48,000 linear feet of manuscripts, it is among the largest libraries in the world by number of ...
, Columbia University, Hebrew University, and the National Library of Israel, among many others.
In 2015, Mark Podwal was commissioned to design new textiles for the restored synagogue in the Czech city of Brno. At Prague's Klementinum, Podwal's series ''Mozart and Prague'' was exhibited along with Mozart's handwritten manuscripts.
In 2016, Glitterati Inc. published a 374-page monograph on his work, ''Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art''. Podwal’s recent publications include his illustrations for Elie Wiesel’s ''The Tale of a Niggun'' and Heinrich Heine's poems ''Hebrew Melodies'', and his own ''A Collage of Customs'' and ''A Jewish Bestiary''. Published in collaboration with the Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center
Babi Yar Holocaust Memorial Center (Ukrainian: Меморіальний центр Голокосту «Бабин Яр»), officially the Foundation and Babyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center, is an educational institution that documents, explains ...
to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the killings, ''An Atlas of Jewish Space'', includes 139 of Podwal’s images with a text by Holocaust scholar Robert Jan van Pelt.
Affiliations
Podwal is represented byForum Gallery
Forum or The Forum (plural forums or fora) may refer to:
Common uses
* Forum (legal), designated space for public expression in the United States
*Forum (Roman), open public space within a Roman city
**Roman Forum, most famous example
*Internet ...
, New York and has exhibited there since 1977. He continues to pursue a parallel career as a physician and currently serves on the faculty of New York University Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
as Adjunct Associate Professor of Dermatology.
Awards
1984:American Book Awards
The American Book Award is an American literary award that annually recognizes a set of books and people for "outstanding literary achievement". According to the 2010 awards press release, it is "a writers' award given by other writers" and "the ...
1989: The Society of Newspaper Design Award
1993: Chevalier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1996: Officier de l' Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1998:
National Jewish Book Award
The Jewish Book Council (Hebrew: ), founded in 1944, is an organization encouraging and contributing to Jewish literature.Francine Prose
Francine Prose (born April 1, 1947) is an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and critic. She is a visiting professor of literature at Bard College, and was formerly president of PEN American Center.
Life and career
Born in Brookl ...
1999: Society of Illustrators Silver Medal
1999:
Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades The Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades are conferred annually by the Children’s Folklore Section of the American Folklore Society upon English language books for children and young adults, both fiction and nonfiction.
About the Prize
The Prize and t ...
American Folklore Society2003: Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa,
Hebrew College
Hebrew College is a private college of Jewish studies in Newton Centre, Massachusetts. Founded in 1921, Hebrew College is committed to Jewish scholarship in a pluralistic, trans-denominational academic environment. The president of the colleg ...
, Newton Centre, MA2009: Smithsonian Notable Book for Children
2010:
New York University Grossman School of Medicine
NYU Grossman School of Medicine is a medical school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. It was founded in 1841 and is one of two medical schools of the university, with the other being the Long Island School of ...
Alumnus Award Medicine in the Humanities2011: Foundation for Jewish Culture Achievement Award
2012:
Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
Print of the Month2019: Gratias Agit Award
Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Czech Republic)
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Czech Republic (MFACR; cs, Ministerstvo zahraničních věcí České republiky; MZVČR) is a Czech government ministry responsible for international relations of the Czech Republic.
The Ministry is headqu ...
Films
2009HOUSE OF LIFE: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague
(Produced by Mark Podwal and Allan Miller)
2013
My Synagogue is in Prague: Picturing Mark Podwal
(Produced by Czech Television)
2015
ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US: Mark Podwal's Art for Terezin
(Produced by Czech Television)
Publications
BOOKS BY THE ARTIST1971: ''The Decline and Fall of the American Empire''. Introduction by Peter Fonda. New York: Darien House
1978: ''A Book of Hebrew Letters''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1982: ''Leonardo di Freud''. Milan: Sperling and Kupfer Editori
1984: ''A Jewish Bestiary''. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1994: ''The Book of Tens''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1995: ''Golem: A Giant Made of Mud''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: ''The Menorah Story''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2003: ''A Sweet Year''. New York: Random House
2005: ''Jerusalem Sky''. New York: Random House
2007: ''Doctored Drawings''. New York: Bellevue Literary Press
2009: ''Built by Angels''. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2015: ''Jüdisches Bestiarium''. Berlin: Hentrich & Hentrich
2016: ''Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art''. New York: Glitterati, Inc.
2018: ''Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka''. Amherst: Yiddish Book Center
2021: ''A Collage of Customs: Iconic Jewish Woodcuts Revised for the Twenty-First Century''. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press
2021: ''A Jewish Bestiary: Fabulous Creatures from Hebraic Legend and Lore''. University Park: Penn State University Press
SELECTED ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
1972: ''Let My People Go: A Haggadah''. Introduction by Theodore Bikel. Foreword by Abba Eban. New York: Macmillan
1972: ''The Book of Lamentations''. New York: The National Council on Art in Jewish Life
1979: Klagsbrun, Francine. ''Voices of Wisdom''. New York: Pantheon
1983: Schwartz, Howard. ''The Captive Soul of the Messiah''. New York: Schocken Books
1985-1988: ''The Elie Wiesel Collection''. Paris: The Bibliophile Library (Fourteen volumes)
1988: Wiesel, Elie. ''The Six Days of Destruction.'' Mahwah: Paulist Press
1993: Wiesel, Elie. ''A Passover Haggadah''. New York: Simon and Schuster
1996: Klagsbrun, Francine. ''Jewish Days''. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
1996: Prose, Francine. ''Dybbuk: A Marriage Made in Heaven''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1997: Prose, Francine. ''The Angel's Mistake: Stories of Chelm''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Prose, Francine. ''You Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed-vavniks''. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Wiesel, Elie. ''Le Golem: Legende d’une legende''. Paris: Bibliophane/Editions du Rocher
1999: Sobel, Ileene Smith. ''Moses and the Angels''. Introduction by Elie Wiesel. New York: Delacorte Press
1999: Wiesel, Elie. ''King Solomon and His Magic Ring''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2000: Prose, Francine. ''The Demons’ Mistake: A Story from Chelm''. New York: Greenwillow Books
2007: Bloom, Harold. ''Fallen Angels.'' New Haven: Yale University Press
2012: Yoffie, Alan S. ''Sharing the Journey: The Haggadah for the Contemporary Family''. New York: CCAR Press
2014: ''Mishkan T’filah for Youth''. New York: CCAR Press
2014: Middleburgh, Charles and Goldstein, Andrew. ''A Jewish Book of Comfort''. Norwich: Canterbury Press
2018: ''Mishkan HaNefesh for Youth''. New York: CCAR Press
2019: ''Heine, Heinrich. Hebrew Melodies''. University Park: Penn State University Press
2020: Elie Wiesel. ''The Tale of a Niggun''. New York: Schocken Books
2021: Van Pelt, Robert Jan. ''How Beautiful Are Your Tents Jacob: An Atlas of Jewish Space''. Zurich: Park Books
SOLO EXHIBITIONS CATALOGUES
1977: ''Observations''. Berkeley: Judah L. Magnes Museum
1990: Ozick, Cynthia. ''Ink and Inkling: Mark Podwal Master of the True Line''. South Hadley: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
1997: Wiesel, Elie. ''Mark Podwal: Jewish Dreams''. Prague: Jewish Museum
2006: ''Kabbalistics''. New York: Forum Gallery
2012: Carlebach, Elisheva. ''Jewish Magic in the Art of Mark Podwa''l. Prague: Jewish Museum
2014: ''All this has come upon us''. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
2020: ''Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka''. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
Notes
References
*Cipolla, Benedictain ''Religion & Ethics News Weekly'' (PBS), February 17, 2006 (Episode no. 925) *Random House
Mark Podwal: author spotlight
*Somerstein, Rachel
Mark Podwal: Yeshiva University Museum
in ''ARTnews'', June 2006 *Wecker, Menachem
in "The Jewish Press", October 2008, an
in "The Jewish Press", July 2007
External links
MarkPodwal.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Podwal, Mark Living people 1945 births American artists Physicians from New York City Jewish American artists American Book Award winners Writers from New York City 21st-century American Jews