Zeev Ben-Zvi (1904–1952) was an Israeli sculptor born in Ryki

Ryki

Ryki is a town in eastern Poland on the main road between Warsaw and Lublin. It has 9,767 inhabitants .Situated in the Lublin Voivodeship . It is the capital of Ryki County.- History :...

, Poland

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

, whose work influenced a generation of sculptors.

Biography

Ben-Zvi studied at Academy of Fine Art

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw

Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw is a public university of visual and applied arts located in the Polish capital. The Academy traces its history back to the Department of Arts founded at the Warsaw University in 1812. As a separate institution it was founded in 1844 during the Partitions of Poland...

 in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

 before emigrated to the then British Mandate of Palestine in 1923, where he studied at the Bezalel School of Art and Craft

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel's national school of art, founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri , who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle ....

, Jerusalem from 1923 to 1924. When the New Bezalel School

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design is Israel's national school of art, founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz. It is named for the Biblical figure Bezalel, son of Uri , who was appointed by Moses to oversee the design and construction of the Tabernacle ....

 was opened, he taught sculpture there from 1926 to 1927. In 1937, he travelled to Paris and then London in 1937 to 1938.

He specialized in portrait heads in beaten copper and mounded plaster, and which he treated in a cubist manner. In 1947 he created one of his most moving works, the monument "In Memory of the Children of the Diaspora" in Mishmar Haemek

Mishmar HaEmek

Mishmar HaEmek is a kibbutz in northern Israel. Located in the western Jezreel Valley, it falls under the jurisdiction of Megiddo Regional Council. In 2006 it had a population of 964....

.

Awards

• In 1953, Ben Zvi received the Dizengoff Prize
  Dizengoff Prize
  The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937.The following is a table of Dizengoff Prize laureates in their respective art form:...
  
   for Sculpture.
• Also in 1953, he was awarded the Israel Prize
  Israel Prize
  The Israel Prize is an award handed out by the State of Israel and is largely regarded as the state's highest honor. It is presented annually, on Israeli Independence Day, in a state ceremony in Jerusalem, in the presence of the President, the Prime Minister, the Knesset chairperson, and the...
  
  , for sculpture, being the inaugural year of the prize, and was accordingly the first artist to be awarded this honor.

Further reading

• Newman, Elias, Art in Palestine, Siebel Company, publishers, New York 1939
• Gamzu, H., Ben-Zvi, Sculptures, 1955