Igal Tumarkin - a rare collection of letters, early works and photographs - 1955-6 - while working for Brecht in ...

Igal Tumarkin - a rare collection of letters, early works and photographs - 1955-6 - while working for Brecht in Germany.
4 letters written by Yigal Tumarkin to his "muse" Rachel, while traveling to Germany, in 1955, to first meet his biological father, a German Christian, then also hired by Bertold Brecht and worked in his theater until Brecht's death. In the letters, Tumarkin mentions his work, Rachel Brecht, and the meeting with his father (and also asks Rachel if she is still a virgin).

In addition - 6 small engraving works on wooden boards, 2 signed on the back - probably from his period of study with Rudy Lehmann in Ein Hod in 1954. 2 photographs of him, one with a navy hat, with dedications and illustrations on the back, as well as 6 photographs of his works from the Berlin period.

Igael Tumarkin (From Wikipedia):

 

Born Peter Martin Gregor Heinrich Hellberg

1933 Dresden, Germany,   Nationality Israeli. Education Studied with Rudi Lehmann, Ein Hod, Known for Sculpture 

Spouse(s) Naomi Naamah, Children 3 

Awards

1985 Dizengoff Prize

2004 Israel Prize

Igael Tumarkin (Hebrew: יגאל תומרקין; born 23 October 1933) is an Israeli painter and sculptor.[1]

Biography

Peter Martin Gregor Heinrich Hellberg (later Igael Tumarkin) was born in Dresden, Germany. His father, Martin Hellberg, was a German theater actor and director, and a son of a pastor. His Jewish mother, Berta Gurevitch, and his stepfather, Herzl Tumarkin, immigrated to then British Mandate of Palestine (now Israel) when he was two.[2]

Tumarkin served in the Israeli Navy. After completing his military service, he studied sculpture in Ein Hod, a village of artists near Mount Carmel. His youngest son is the actor Yon Tumarkin.[3][4] 

Art career

Igael Tumarkin, 1980 

Among Tumarkin's best known works are the Holocaust and Revival memorial in Rabin Square, Tel Aviv and his sculptures commemorate fallen soldiers in the Negev.[5]

Tumarkin is 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.[6][7][8] One of his controversial works is a pig wearing phylacteries (or tfilin, small boxes containing scriptures).[9] 

Education

1954 – Studied with Rudi Lehmann, Ein-Hod[10]

1955 Studied with Bertolt Brecht, Berliner Ensemble, 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 for Israeli Art, Israel Museum, 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 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 for sculpture[11][12]

Outdoor and public art

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

Monument in the Moav Outlook in Arad, Israel

Holocaust memorial sculpture in Tel Aviv

1962-68 "Panorama", concrete and steel, Arad, Israel

1962-69 "Age of Science", concrete and steel, Dimona

1963 "Vibrations A & B", concrete, Kiryat Yam and "Window to the Sea", concrete, Atlit

1964-65 "Monument for the Holocaust", concrete and steel, Nazareth

1966 "Peace Memorial", Hebron Road, Jerusalem

1968 "Big Chief", tank assemblage painted, Kiryat Shmona

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, Pozoblanco, Spain

1989 La Liberte, Bordeaux, France

1991 Bertolt Brecht, Berlin Museum Garden

1992 "Jerusalem – Three Faiths", Mount Scopus, Jerusalem

1993 Semaphore, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot

1993 My Seven Pillars of Wisdom, Hakone Open Air Museum, Japan

1994–96 The Sculpture Garden of Belvoir (Kochav HaYarden)

1997 Memorial for Yitzhak Rabin, Ramat Gan Museum

2000 Abu Nabut Garden, Jaffa