Maurice Ascalon
Maurice Ascalon ( Hebrew מוריס אשקלון; * 1913 ; † 2003 ) was an Israeli sculptor and artist. He is considered the father of the modern Israeli art movement.
Life
Maurice Ascalon was born under the name Moshe Klein in the east of Hungary . From an early age he tried to implement his artistic yearnings, although this forced him to renounce his strictly religious roots ( Hasidism ). Artistic pursuits were frowned upon in the shtetl in which he grew up. At the age of 15, Ascalon left his parents' home and moved to Brussels to study art at the Academie des Beaux-Arts . His deep knowledge of the rituals and traditions of Jewish ceremonies helped him here and later in his artistic endeavors.
After training in Brussels and later in Milan , Ascalon emigrated to Israel in 1934 , where he met his future wife Ziporah Kartujinsky, a Polish- born Jew.
In 1939 he created the four-meter-tall hammered copper relief The Toiler of the Soil, the Laborer and the Scholar for the Jewish Pavilion at the World's Fair in New York, which introduced the concept of the modern Jewish state. The sculpture is now in the Spertus Museum in Chicago .
In the late 1930s, Ascalon established a manufacture in Israel, Pal-Bell, that made Menorot from bronze and brass. These and other Jewish works of art have been exported all over the world with great success.
Much of Ascalon's work - some in the Art Deco style , others more traditional - have an intentional artificial aging in the form of a green patina . This technique, which he introduced to Israeli metalworking, is still a trademark of Israel's craft industry today.
During the War of Independence in 1948, Ascalon was obliged by the government to manufacture ammunition for the army in his company and to develop new types of ammunition. As a result of this experience, Ascalon emigrated to the United States in 1956 .
During the first few years in the USA, Ascalon lived in New York and Los Angeles . He gained great recognition for his work as a silversmith and taught sculpture at the Jewish University in Los Angeles for a while.
In the late 1970s, Ascalon moved to the Philadelphia area and established Ascalon Studios. His company became known for site-specific art in public spaces and churches and maintains that reputation today under the direction of his son David Ascalon .
In August 2003, a few months after his 90th birthday, Maurice Ascalon died of complications from Parkinson's disease in Cuernavaca , Mexico .
Maurice Ascalon's legacy includes many installations across the United States, Mexico, and Israel. His work has been exhibited in many museums, including the New York Jewish Museum, the American Jewish History Museum in Philadelphia, the Spertus Museum in Chicago, and the Jewish University in Los Angeles.
See also
literature
- Nurith Kenaan-Kedar, Yad Izhak Ben-Zvi: Modern Creations from an Ancient Land . Eretz Israel Museum, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 2006, ISBN 965-217-256-1
- Susan L. Braunstein: Five Centuries of Hanukkah Lamps from The Jewish Museum . The Jewish Museum, 2005, ISBN 0-300-10623-8
- New Jersey Artist Honored Posthumously in Tel Aviv . In: New Jersey Jewish News , December 15, 2005.
- Susan L. Braunstein: Luminous Art. Hanukkah Menorahs of the Jewish Museum . The Jewish Museum, Yale University Press 2004, ISBN 0-300-10387-5
- Famous Jews Who Died Last Year . In: Jewish Telegraphic Agency , January 2, 2004.
- Gil Goldfine: In the Frame . In: The Jerusalem Post , August 15, 2003.
- Barbara Rothschild: Sculptor Maurice Ascalon Dies . In: The Courier-Post , August 7, 2003.
- M. Ascalon Maker of Judaic Art . In: The Philadelphia Inquirer , August 5, 2003.
Web links
- Maurice Ascalon's Pal-Bell Co. Ltd. (English)
- Maurice Ascalon biography
- Pal-Bell Collectors Group (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ascalon, Maurice |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | מוריס אשקלון (Hebrew) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Israeli artist and sculptor |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1913 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Hungary |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2003 |
| Place of death | Cuernavaca , Mexico |