Rudi Lehmann

{{Infobox artist

| name = Rudi Lehmann
רודי להמן

| image = RudiLehman.jpg

| birth_name = Rudolf Lehmann

| birth_date = {{birth date|1903|08|25}}

| birth_place = Berlin, German Empire

| death_date = 1977

| death_place = Givatayim, Israel

| field = Sculptor and wood carving artist

| training = Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee

}}

Rudolf (Rudi) Lehmann ({{langx|he|רודי להמן}}{{ltr}}; 1903–1977) was a German-born Israeli sculptor and wood carving artist.{{cite news|url=http://www.timesofisrael.com/events/the-wood-menagerie-works-by-rudi-lehmann/|title=The Wood Menagerie: Works by Rudi Lehmann|newspaper=Times of Israel}} He was one of the pioneers of sculpture in the State of Israel.{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Mq5W3XjrbxUC|title=The Object of Memory: Arab and Jew Narrate the Palestinian Village|first=Susan|last=Slyomovics|date=1 June 1998|publisher=University of Pennsylvania Press|isbn=0812215257|via=Google Books}}

Biography

Rudolf (Rudi) Lehmann (1903-1977), born in Berlin, August 25, 1903 to non-Jewish German Elizabeth Sender. In 1919 Rudolf was adopted by the Lehmann family.

He was one of the pioneers of wood sculpting in the State of Israel.

Studies

In 1912 in Berlin, he practiced wood sculpture with Ludwig Vordermayer.

From 1917 to 1922, he studied mechanics and worked as a blacksmith's apprentice. After studying woodcarving and sculpture with sculptor Harold Isenstein, he attended the :de:Kunsthochschule Berlin-Weißensee (Municipal Art School Berlin-Weißensee), majoring in sculpture and ceramics. During his studies there, he met Hedwig Grossman, whom he later married.{{cite web|url=http://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/artists-yishuv-and-israel-1920-1970|title=Artists: Yishuv and Israel: 1920-1970 - Jewish Women's Archive|publisher=Jewish Women's Archive}}{{cite web |url=http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Grossman%20Lehmann,%20Hedwig |title=Hedwig Grossman Lehmann |publisher= Information Center for Israeli Art}} In 1928-1930, Lehmann worked for Holzmann's Stone Mason and Carving company. He became a freelance stonemason and sculptor for museums around Germany, including the Pergamon Museum in Berlin, and worked in terra cotta at Hedwig's ceramics workshop. In the summer of 1933, Lehmann immigrated to Mandate Palestine with his wife and settled in Haifa. They established a ceramics testing laboratory at the Technion in Haifa and settled on Kibbutz Yagur in 1935, where they established a flower pot factory.

In 1937, the couple opened a sculpture studio in Jerusalem, where Lehmann produced miniature carvings from olive wood, ivory, horn and gemstones sold as tourist souvenirs. From 1945 to 1947, Lehmann worked for the Haganah, building models and ballistic implements. In 1947-1948, he joined the Jewish Agency's Self-Defense Planning Committee.

File:Orot lahaman.jpg

In 1953, he helped to found the Ein Hod Artists' Village, where he taught sculpture. Among his students were Yigael Tumarkin{{cite web|url=http://www.safrai.com/artist_Ygael_Tumarkin_97.html|title=Ygael Tumarkin |publisher=Safrai Fine Art gallery - Jerusalem}} and Menashe Kadishman.{{cite web|url=http://www.farkash-gallery.com/homage-to-Menashe-Kadishmans-81st-birthday-1.html|title=The Farkash Gallery - Vintage Israeli Posters - 14th Israeli Independence Day poster 1962|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20140813124001/http://www.farkash-gallery.com/homage-to-Menashe-Kadishmans-81st-birthday-1.html|archivedate=2014-08-13}} In 1959, Lehmann and his wife moved to Givatayim where he established an art school under the auspices of the Givatayim municipality. The school held classes in sculpture, woodcuts and ceramics for young people and adults.{{cite web|url=http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/default.asp?artist=280437|title=Rudolf (Rudi) Lehmann|work=Information Center for Israeli Art|publisher=The Israel Museum, Jerusalem|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140813195201/http://www.imj.org.il/artcenter/default.asp?artist=280437|archivedate=2014-08-13}}

Lehmann's work was influenced by the Canaanism school of Israeli art.{{cite journal|url=http://azure.org.il/include/print.php?id=238|title=The Crisis of Israeli Culture |journal=Azure |date=Summer 2003 | number=15| first=Yigal |last=Alon}} which attempted to create a direct relationship with the Land of Israel by emphasizing simple shapes and motifs from the sculpture and ritual art of early Middle Eastern civilizations.{{cite web|url=http://www.bluefineart.com/artist-bio/calman-shemi/|title=Calman Shemi |publisher=Blue Fine Art}}

He died in 1977.

Awards and recognition

1933 Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo
1951 Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo
1953 Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo
1966 Dizengoff Prize for Painting and Sculpture, Municipality of Tel Aviv-Yafo