Lidia Zavadsky (; 1937 – November 8, 2001) was an Israeli visual artist. Her work mainly focused on ceramic sculpture. She was head of the ceramics department at Bezalel Academy of Art. She was a

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

survivor.

Early life

Lidia Zavadsky (originally Felicia Schindler) was born in 1937 in Drohobycz, Poland (today

Drohobych Drohobych ( ; ; ) is a city in the south of Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hromada, one of the hromadas of Ukraine. In 1939–1941 and 1944–1959 it w ...

, Ukraine). When she was 2 years old her father was exiled to

Siberia Siberia ( ; , ) is an extensive geographical region comprising all of North Asia, from the Ural Mountains in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east. It has formed a part of the sovereign territory of Russia and its predecessor states ...

and later was recruited to the

Red Army The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often shortened to the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was established in January 1918 by a decree of the Council of People ...

and his traces were lost. After the Nazi invasion she stayed with her mother in the Drohobycz

ghetto A ghetto is a part of a city in which members of a minority group are concentrated, especially as a result of political, social, legal, religious, environmental or economic pressure. Ghettos are often known for being more impoverished than other ...

. After the end of the ghetto they hid in a cellar for two years. Towards the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

they were taken to

Wrocław Wrocław is a city in southwestern Poland, and the capital of the Lower Silesian Voivodeship. It is the largest city and historical capital of the region of Silesia. It lies on the banks of the Oder River in the Silesian Lowlands of Central Eu ...

, Poland. There her mother remarried and gave birth to her half-brother in 1946. In 1958 her family immigrated to Israel while she stayed in Poland. She graduated in law studies at the

University of Wrocław The University of Wrocław (, UWr; ) is a public research university in Wrocław, Poland. It is the largest institution of higher learning in the Lower Silesian Voivodeship, with over 100,000 graduates since 1945, including some 1,900 researcher ...

. After graduation she joined her family in 1961. In Israel she found difficulties in adapting and could not use her academic skills for employment. As a result, she worked in cleaning and soon felt discontented, turning to the Polish embassy to ask for a permit to return. There she met a young man Pyotr who came with the same purpose. They found support in each other and decided to stay in Israel and start a new career in art studies at the Bezalel Academy. Due to the lack of a sculpture studies department at Bezalel Academy, she opted to study in the ceramics department instead. During those days the department was focused on pottery. She supported her studies through cleaning the department's works, as well as restoring pottery at archaeological digs. In 1966 her elder daughter was born followed by her son in 1977.

Career

She excelled in her studies and after graduation she joined the department in 1965. In 1982 she was invited as guest lecturer for McGregor Art School at

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, In 1981 she published a book about Rakou techniques and working processes. She was later appointed professor at Bezalel Academy. In the same year she was guest lecturer for a series of workshops in Canada. In 1987 she was nominated to be the head of the ceramics department. During her years in Bezalel she transformed the department of ceramics from a department of pottery into an advocate of ceramic sculpture. Her art was characterized by deep intellectual curiosity and neverending experimentation with techniques, materials and ways of expression. She studied ancient traditional Chinese glazing methods of the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...

in China and applied them to her art while creating human size jars in bright colors derived from lead. She won numerous grants and awards, among them the

Sandberg Prize The Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art refers to a prize for art and design awarded at the Israel Museum, Jerusalem, with a particular focus on Israeli art. The prize was inaugurated in 1968 with funds from an anonymous New York City, New York–based ...

(1992). It was the first time ever that this prize was awarded to an artist in the ceramics medium. This prize enabled her to start her research and experimentation with ancient traditional Chinese glazes. Her last monumental work was a life-size realist sculpture in the image of a bright green donkey. it was displayed at the first Biennial of ceramics in Haaretz Museum and later she gifted it to the museum. This image was inspired by a donkey whom she cured and cared for in her back yard. As a consequence of using toxic lead for her art, Lidia developed cancer and died at age 64 in November 2001. Her works are kept in local and international public collections. One person Exhibitions * 1977 – Ha'aretz Museum, Tel Aviv * 1985 – "''Contemporary Porcelain''" New York. * 1993 – Israel Museum, Jerusalem. * 1994 – European Ceramics Work center *

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 160,783. It is the capital of ...

, Netherlands. * 1994 – Kagelbanan gallery, Stockholm, Sweden * 1995 – Kamaras Gallery, Borholm, Sweden File:Lidia Zavadsky city hall 013.JPG, Stone Jar Jerusalem Municipality. File:Lidia Zavadsky city hall 020.JPG, Jar 1993 Jerusalem Municipality File:Ephraim... Ephraim! 002.JPG, Efrayim , Efrayim 2000 Ha' aretz Museum

Grants and awards

* 1990 Jerusalem Prize for Sculpture and Painting * 1992 The Sandberg Grant for Development the Israel Museum, Jerusalem.

Bibliography

* Levin, Michael, Large Jars- The series as an adventure, in: Lidia Zavadsky -Jars1993-1994 * הקרט, שרה (עורכת), 1280°, גיליון מס' 7, קיץ 2003 (גיליון המוקדש לזבצקי) * זבצקי, לידיה, רקו: טכניקות ותהליכי עבודה, הוצאת המחלקה לקדרות, בצלאל, ירושלים, 1981 * זבצקי, לידיה, 13 בחומר, תיאטרון ירושלים, ירושלים, 1984 * זבצקי, לידיה, לידיה זבצקי, כדים 1993-1994, מוזיאון ישראל, ירושלים, 1995 * זבצקי, לידיה, בין עיצוב לפיסול: שישה בוגרי המחלקה לעיצוב קרמי, האקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב בצלאל, ירושלים, עיריית ירושלים, האגף לתרבות, המחלקה לאמנות ועיצוב, ירושלים, 2001 * עפרת, גדעון, לידיה זבצקי: מעל ומעבר לחרס, ע. וי. זבצקי, תל אביב, 2011 {{DEFAULTSORT:Zavadsky, Lidia 1937 births 2001 deaths People from Drohobych Israeli women ceramists Sandberg Prize recipients Academic staff of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Drohobych Ghetto inmates 20th-century Israeli sculptors 20th-century ceramists Polish emigrants to Israel Israeli people of Polish-Jewish descent Deaths from cancer in Israel 20th-century Israeli women sculptors

Early life

Career

See also

Grants and awards

Bibliography