Naftali Wahba Bezem ( he, נפתלי בזם; November 27, 1924 - October 2, 2018) was an Israeli painter,

muralist A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...

and sculptor.

Biography

Naftali Bezem was born in

Essen, Germany Essen (; Latin: ''Assindia'') is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dor ...

, in 1924. His early adolescence was spent under

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

oppression, in constant fear for the safety of his parents, who were later murdered in Auschwitz concentration camp. Naftali

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 ...

Mandate Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 i ...

in 1939, at the age of fourteen with a

Youth Aliyah Youth Aliyah (Hebrew: עלית הנוער, ''Aliyat Hano'ar'', German: Jugend-Alijah, Youth Immigration) is a Jewish organization that rescued thousands of Jewish children from the Nazis during the Third Reich. Youth Aliyah arranged for their r ...

group. From 1943 to 1946, he studied art at the

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldes ...

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

with Israeli painter

Mordecai Ardon Mordecai Ardon ( he, מרדכי ארדון, 13 July 1896 – 18 June 1992) was an Israeli painter. Biography Max Bronstein (later Mordecai Ardon) was born in Tuchów, Galicia (then Austria-Hungary, now Poland). In 1933 he immigrated to Mandate ...

. He then spent three years studying in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

. Bezem's son Yitzhak was killed in the 1975 Zion Square refrigerator bombing in downtown

Art career

In addition to painting and sculpture, Bezem created murals, wall reliefs, tapestries, and stained glass windows.Encyclopedia of Modern Jewish Culture
/ref> His most famous public works include a wall relief at

Yad Vashem Yad Vashem ( he, יָד וַשֵׁם; literally, "a memorial and a name") is Israel's official memorial to the victims of the Holocaust. It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; honoring Jews who fought against th ...

in Jerusalem and the ceiling mural in the main reception room at the President's Residence, Jerusalem.

Awards and recognition

* In 1957, Bezem was a co-recipient of the

Dizengoff Prize The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937. Recipients The following is a table of Dizengoff Prize laureates in their respective art form: References {{reflist Israeli ...

for Painting.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bezem, Naftali Jewish Israeli artists Jewish sculptors Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Israeli sculptors Modern sculptors Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni 1924 births 2018 deaths

Biography

Art career

Awards and recognition

See also

References

Further reading

External links