Arieh Navon (né Kligman) (; May 22, 1909 – November 29, 1996) was a Russian-Israeli painter and illustrator, the first cartoonist in the Yishuv. He was also a set designer, comic artist and book illustrator. Winner of the

Israel Prize The Israel Prize (; ''pras israél'') is an award bestowed by the State of Israel, and regarded as the state's highest cultural honor. History Prior to the Israel Prize, the most significant award in the arts was the Dizengoff Prize and in Israel ...

for Performing Arts in 1996.

Biography

Early life and education

Navon was born as Arieh Kligman in 1909 in the town of

Dunaivtsi Dunaivtsi (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Kamianets-Podilskyi Raion, Khmelnytskyi Oblast, Ukraine. It is located on the river Ternavka, 22 km away from the railway station Dunaivtsi and 68 km from the Khmelnytskyi, Ukr ...

(now modern-day

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

), the son of Malka, daughter of Rabbi Yitzhak Meir of Ostburg, and Moshe HaCohen son of Yitzhak Kligman. He immigrated to Israel with his family in 1919 (age 10) on the ship "Ruslan". Studied art in

Yitzhak Frenkel Yitzhak Frenkel (; 1899–1981), also known as Isaac Frenkel or Alexandre Frenel, was an Israeli painter, sculptor and teacher. He was one of the leading Jewish artists of the School of Paris, l’École de Paris and its chief practitioner in Is ...

studio A studio is a space set aside for creative work of any kind, including art, dance, music and theater. The word ''studio'' is derived from the , from , from ''studere'', meaning to study or zeal. Types Art The studio of any artist, esp ...

Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...

in the late 1920s.

Career and art

He has hundreds of paintings, mostly drawings in ink or charcoal, and dozens of portraits of public figures, writers, actors and artists. A selection of them appears in his book "Records". A film based on his drawings called "The Way of a Singer in the Desert" was created in 1956, in collaboration between him and Yaakov Agam and Aryeh Mambush. He taught drawing at the Avni Institute and the Oranim Kibbutz Seminary. Navon participated in many exhibitions in Israel and around the world. A solo exhibition was held for him at the Israel Museum in 1978. For his paintings, he won the

Dizengoff prize The Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture is awarded annually by the Tel Aviv-Yafo Municipality since 1937. The prize is named after Meir Dizengoff, the first mayor of Tel Aviv. According to the Tel Aviv municipality, the purpose of the pri ...

for painting (1939) and twice the Jerusalem prize for painting (1941, 1944).

Family and recognition

From 1970, he was married to Latah nee Tzipkevich. His son is the recipient of the Israel Prize in Psychology, Professor

David Navon David (; , "beloved one") was a king of ancient Israel and Judah and the Kings of Israel and Judah, third king of the Kingdom of Israel (united monarchy), United Monarchy, according to the Hebrew Bible and Old Testament. The Tel Dan stel ...

. His older brother was the educator Shmuel Navon. Another brother, Zev Navon, was also an artist and a painting teacher. Another brother was named Chaim. In 1975, he was selected by the International Theatre Institute as one of the 13 outstanding and innovative theater artists for the years 1970-75 (alongside director Peter Brook and others). He won the

for Performing Arts in 1996. He died in Tel Aviv in 1996, at the age of 87, and is buried in the Yarkon Cemetery. A collection of letters sent to him is preserved in the National Library.https://www.nli.org.il/he/archives/NNL_ARCHIVE_AL990030178440205171/NLI, National Library of Israel, Arieh Navon collection

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Navon, Arieh 20th-century Israeli artists Israeli comics artists Israeli illustrators 20th-century Israeli painters 20th-century Israeli illustrators 1909 births 1996 deaths People from Dunaivtsi Russian emigrants to Israel Jewish Israeli artists Sokolov Award recipients

Biography

Early life and education

Career and art

Family and recognition

See also

References