Mark Podwal | |
|---|---|
 Podwal in 2007 | |
| Born | (1945-06-08)June 8, 1945 New York City, U.S. |
| Died | September 13, 2024(2024-09-13) (aged 79) Harrison, New York, U.S. |
| Alma mater | |
| Known for | Watercolor,Drawing,Painting |
| Spouse | |
| Children | 2 |
| Website | http://www.markpodwal.com |
Mark Howard Podwal (June 8, 1945 – September 13, 2024) was an American artist, author, filmmaker and physician. He may have been best known initially for his drawings onThe New York Times Op-Ed page. In addition, he is the author and illustrator of numerous books. Most of these works—Podwal's own as well as those he has illustrated for others—typically focus on Jewish legend, history and tradition.[1] His art is represented in the collections of theMetropolitan Museum of Art, theVictoria and Albert Museum, theIsrael Museum, theNational Gallery of Prague, the Jewish Museums inBerlin,Vienna,Stockholm,Prague,New York, among many other venues.
Podwal was born inBrooklyn in 1945, and was raised inFlushing, Queens.[2] His mother immigrated to the United States from Poland.[2] One of his uncles was refused entry to the United States due to a misdiagnosed illness, and was later killed in the Holocaust.[2]
Podwal attendedQueens College and theNew York University Grossman School of Medicine, and became a dermatologist.[2] He drew as a hobby throughout his early years, before beginning to publish in 1971.[2]
Beyond his works on paper, Podwal's artistry has been employed in an array of diverse projects, including the design of a series of decorative plates for theMetropolitan Museum of Art:Passover Plate,Zodiac Platter (Met Bestseller), andLife Cycle (Met Bestseller). His work has been animated for public television inA Passover Seder with Elie Wiesel (Time Warner), engraved on aCongressional Gold Medal presented by President Reagan to Elie Wiesel, and woven into an Aubusson tapestry that adorned the ark in the main sanctuary ofCongregation Emanu-El of the City of New York. Moreover, he designed sixteen kiln cast glass panels for the United Jewish Appeal Federation Headquarters in New York. Podwal collaborated with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Allan Miller on the documentaryHouse of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, narrated by Claire Bloom. In 2009 and 2010, the film was broadcast on PBS.
In conjunction with theAnti-Defamation League, Podwal beganThe Jerusalem Sky Project, a program that fosters tolerance and awareness by bringing together young children from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities. Participating religious schools study Podwal'sJerusalem Sky in their classrooms, and then encourage their students to illustrate their own depictions of Jerusalem. Amidst the learning, the children of each school write to or meet with their counterparts at a school of another faith and begin to learn about each other's religion and culture. After a few weeks, the program culminates with an exhibition of all of the drawings from each of the schools. At the opening of the exhibition, the children meet to enjoy each other's art and company. In a 2005 article called "Three Faiths, One Lesson", theNew York Times covered the completion of the program at theBrooklyn Academy of Music in Brooklyn, NY.[3] The project has since also been carried out in Los Angeles, CA, and Binghamton, NY. RegardingJerusalem Sky, renowned children's author Maurice Sendak wrote, "All the earned and admiring praise – wondrous, luminous, magical – cannot catch the fierce bite, healthy spirit, and sheer joyousness of this superb book."
In 2011, Podwal received commissions to illustrate a new PassoverHaggadah for the Central Conference of American Rabbis Press; to design new embroidered textiles for Prague's 700-year-oldAltneuschul; to create a limited edition print for the Metropolitan Opera's production ofNabucco; and to designHanukkah cards for the Metropolitan Museum and the Metropolitan Opera.
In 2014, the Terezin Ghetto Museum exhibited Podwal's cycleAll This Has Come Upon Us, a series of 42 paintings and drawings created especially for that venue.[4]The works, which span Jewish history from the destruction of the two temples in Jerusalem, through the history ofanti-Semitism and persecution in Europe, culminating in theHolocaust, have been described by the artist as offering "a disturbing reminder of how Europe’s extensive history of 'Jew-hatred' laid the groundwork for Terezin and Auschwitz".[4] The series has been published as a portfolio of archival pigment prints,[4] which has been acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, the Library of Congress, Yad Vashem, the Bodleian Library, the British Library, the Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University, Yale University,Princeton University Library,[5] Columbia University, Hebrew University, and the National Library of Israel, among many others.
In 2015, Mark Podwal was commissioned to design new textiles for the restored synagogue in the Czech city ofBrno. At Prague'sKlementinum, Podwal's seriesMozart and Prague was exhibited along with Mozart's handwritten manuscripts.
In 2016, Glitterati Inc. published a 374-page monograph on his work,Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art. Podwal's recent publications include his illustrations for Elie Wiesel'sThe Tale of a Niggun and Heinrich Heine's poemsHebrew Melodies, and his ownA Collage of Customs andA Jewish Bestiary. Published in collaboration with theBabyn Yar Holocaust Memorial Center to commemorate the eightieth anniversary of the killings,An Atlas of Jewish Space, includes 139 of Podwal's images with a text by Holocaust scholar Robert Jan van Pelt.
Podwal continued to pursue a parallel career as a physician and served on the faculty ofNew York University Grossman School of Medicine as Adjunct Associate Professor of Dermatology.[2]
In 1977, Podwal married Ayalah Siev-or.[2][6] They had two children.[2]
Podwal died of cancer at his home inHarrison, New York, on September 13, 2024, at the age of 79.[2][7]
1984:American Book Awards
1989: The Society of Newspaper Design Award
1993: Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1996: Officier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres de la Republique Francaise
1998:National Jewish Book Award in the Children's Picture Book category forYou Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed-vavniks. Text byFrancine Prose[8]
1999: Society of Illustrators Silver Medal
1999:Aesop Prize and Aesop Accolades American Folklore Society
2003: Doctor of Humane Letters Honoris Causa,Hebrew College, Newton Centre, MA
2009: Smithsonian Notable Book for Children
2010:New York University Grossman School of Medicine Alumnus Award Medicine in the Humanities
2011: Foundation for Jewish Culture Achievement Award
2012:Victoria and Albert Museum Print of the Month
2019: Gratias Agit AwardMinistry of Foreign Affairs (Czech Republic)
2009:HOUSE OF LIFE: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague (Produced by Mark Podwal and Allan Miller)
2013:My Synagogue is in Prague: Picturing Mark Podwal (Produced by Czech Television)
2015:ALL THIS HAS COME UPON US: Mark Podwal's Art for Terezin (Produced by Czech Television)
BOOKS BY THE ARTIST
1971:The Decline and Fall of the American Empire. Introduction by Peter Fonda. New York: Darien House
1978:A Book of Hebrew Letters. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1982:Leonardo di Freud. Milan: Sperling and Kupfer Editori
1984:A Jewish Bestiary. Philadelphia: The Jewish Publication Society
1994:The Book of Tens. New York: Greenwillow Books
1995:Golem: A Giant Made of Mud. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998:The Menorah Story. New York: Greenwillow Books
2003:A Sweet Year. New York: Random House
2005:Jerusalem Sky. New York: Random House
2007:Doctored Drawings. New York: Bellevue Literary Press
2009:Built by Angels. New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2015:Jüdisches Bestiarium. Berlin: Hentrich & Hentrich
2016:Reimagined: 45 Years of Jewish Art. New York: Glitterati, Inc.
2018:Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka. Amherst: Yiddish Book Center
2021:A Collage of Customs: Iconic Jewish Woodcuts Revised for the Twenty-First Century. Cincinnati: Hebrew Union College Press
2021:A Jewish Bestiary: Fabulous Creatures from Hebraic Legend and Lore. University Park: Penn State University Press
SELECTED ILLUSTRATED BOOKS
1972:Let My People Go: A Haggadah. Introduction by Theodore Bikel. Foreword by Abba Eban. New York: Macmillan
1972:The Book of Lamentations. New York: The National Council on Art in Jewish Life
1979: Klagsbrun, Francine.Voices of Wisdom. New York: Pantheon
1983: Schwartz, Howard.The Captive Soul of the Messiah. New York: Schocken Books
1985-1988:The Elie Wiesel Collection. Paris: The Bibliophile Library (Fourteen volumes)
1988: Wiesel, Elie.The Six Days of Destruction. Mahwah: Paulist Press
1993: Wiesel, Elie.A Passover Haggadah. New York: Simon and Schuster
1996: Klagsbrun, Francine.Jewish Days. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
1996: Prose, Francine.Dybbuk: A Marriage Made in Heaven. New York: Greenwillow Books
1997: Prose, Francine.The Angel's Mistake: Stories of Chelm. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Prose, Francine.You Never Know: A Legend of the Lamed-vavniks. New York: Greenwillow Books
1998: Wiesel, Elie.Le Golem: Legende d’une legende. Paris: Bibliophane/Editions du Rocher
1999: Sobel, Ileene Smith.Moses and the Angels. Introduction by Elie Wiesel. New York: Delacorte Press
1999: Wiesel, Elie.King Solomon and His Magic Ring. New York: Greenwillow Books
2000: Prose, Francine.The Demons’ Mistake: A Story from Chelm. New York: Greenwillow Books
2007: Bloom, Harold.Fallen Angels. New Haven: Yale University Press
2012: Yoffie, Alan S.Sharing the Journey: The Haggadah for the Contemporary Family. New York: CCAR Press
2014:Mishkan T’filah for Youth. New York: CCAR Press
2014: Middleburgh, Charles and Goldstein, Andrew.A Jewish Book of Comfort. Norwich: Canterbury Press
2018:Mishkan HaNefesh for Youth. New York: CCAR Press
2019:Heine, Heinrich. Hebrew Melodies. University Park: Penn State University Press
2020: Elie Wiesel.The Tale of a Niggun. New York: Schocken Books
2021: Van Pelt, Robert Jan.How Beautiful Are Your Tents Jacob: An Atlas of Jewish Space. Zurich: Park Books
SOLO EXHIBITIONS CATALOGUES
1977:Observations. Berkeley: Judah L. Magnes Museum
1990: Ozick, Cynthia.Ink and Inkling: Mark Podwal Master of the True Line. South Hadley: Mount Holyoke College Art Museum
1997: Wiesel, Elie.Mark Podwal: Jewish Dreams. Prague: Jewish Museum
2006:Kabbalistics. New York: Forum Gallery
2012: Carlebach, Elisheva.Jewish Magic in the Art of Mark Podwal. Prague: Jewish Museum
2014:All this has come upon us. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
2020:Kaddish for Dąbrowa Białostocka. Terezin: Terezin Memorial
