Nahum Gutman Museum
Nahum
Gutman was one of Israel's most well known
artists.
His body of work was broad. He worked in a variety
of media including oils, watercolors, gouache, sculpture, mosaics and
engravings. Born in Telenesty, Bessrabia, he immigrated to Eretz-Israel
in 1905 with his parents at the age of seven.
Gutman was truly a product of his environment and
one the students who rebelled against the European way of painting at
the Bezalel (art academy). Hemi Gutman, the artist's son, a professor of
biophysics at Tel Aviv University, explained that when his father
attended Bezalel, all the teachers were of European decent. Their
entire treatment of subject matter was based on European landscapes
and even on European lighting. The group that rebelled, believed that
the different landscape in Israel, one in which summer days are often
gray and filled with blinding light (from dust) required a new and
different treatment.
The museum dedicated to Nahum Gutman opened just
last year, in a building known as the Writer's or Editor's House. It
is the result of what Hemi Gutman described as, "15 years of
blood sweat and tears". Only a small portion of the permanent
collection of several thousand works are on display at any given
time. Located in the Neve Zedek, area of Tel Aviv (see Route #1,
Orange Routes article) the building was originally built in 1887 in
one of the first neighborhoods outside of Jaffa. It housed the
editorial board of the `Ha'poel Ha'tzair' (Young Laborer) newspaper
between 1907-1914 and was home to Y.H. Brenner, Dvora Baron and
Joesph Aharonovitz.
Hemi Gutman said that his father loved people and
never did or looked at anything from a superior standpoint. He noted
that while most people tend to equate his father's work with
optimism, his father also saw the bad. A new exhibition, opening this
December, titled "Gutman in the Land of Evil", will clearly
show that Gutman did in fact see the darker side of life. The new
exhibition will showcase works never before seen by the public. These
works deal with pogroms, the holocaust, etc.
Gutman was not only preoccupied with painting
(illustration) but with writing as well. In fact, many knew him best
for his drawings and illustrated children's books. He once wrote,
"This person (myself) occupies himself, as it were, in two lines
of work, but in truth only does what his heart desires, namely
one." Gutman wrote and published prose, mostly short stories and
children's tales, on which generations of Israeli children were
raised. He was the recipient of numerous prizes and in 1978 received
the Israel Prize (Israel's highest accolade), for his contribution to
children's literature.
Describing his father's work, Hemi Gutman said,
"He didn't have just one style of painting. He switched from the
figurative style to one which started having more abstract elements,
but not because he was trying to copy anyone." In fact, during
the 1950's when Israeli painting seemed to be in a crisis and there
were those who advocated adopting the International style in order to
lose the local stigma Gutman wasn't swayed and was true to the local
style.
In a catalog from the museum's first exhibition,
the artist's son wrote, "The most difficult moment in my
father's art was parting with it. The house was full of new and old
paintings. My father liked their proximity, they seemed to remind him
of the good moments in life. These selected moments have been
compiled to populate a museum dedicated to Nahum Gutman."
And a charming museum it is.
The museum is located at 21 Rokach Street, Neve Zedek, Tel Aviv, 65148
03/5161-970, 03/510-8554 TEL 03/516-1981 FAX
Visiting Hours: Sunday-Wednesday 10:00 AM - 4:00
PM Thursday - 10:00 Am 7:00 PM Friday - 10:00 Am - 2:00 PM Saturday -
10:00 AM - 5 PM
Entry fees: Adults, 15 NIS/pp, Children and Senior
Citizens, 10 NIS/pp Groups (of 20 or more) 10 NIS/pp Guided tours for
groups are available in Hebrew, English or French - 20 NIS/pp
Sources: Copyright � 2000 Gems
in Israel All rights reserved. Reprinted with Permission. |