Yitzhak Danziger | |
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Yitzhak Danziger, 1940's
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Born |
Berlin, Germany |
26 June 1916
Died | 11 July 1977 near Ramla, Israel |
(aged 61)
Nationality | Israeli |
Education | University of London |
Known for | Painting and Sculpture |
Movement | Canaanite Movement |
Yitzhak Danziger (Hebrew: יצחק דנציגר; 26 June 1916 – 11 July 1977) was an Israeli sculptor. He was one of the pioneer sculptors of the Canaanite Movement, and later joined the "Ofakim Hadashim" (New Horizons) group.
Danziger was born in Berlin in 1916 to a Zionist family. His father was a surgeon and served in the German Army during World War I.
The family immigrated to then Mandate Palestine in 1923 and settled in Jerusalem. Danziger studied art at the Slade School of Fine Art 1934–37. He was influenced by his visits to the British Museum, the Anthropological Museum and the art from Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, India and Oceania and Africa. These would later on play an important role in his sculptures.
He returned to Palestine and set up a studio at Tel Aviv in 1937.
Danziger created his statue "Nimrod" in 1938–1939. The statue is 90 centimeters high and made of Red Nubian Sandstone imported from Petra in Jordan. It depicts Nimrod as a naked hunter, uncircumcised, carrying a bow and with a hawk on his shoulder. The style shows the influence of Ancient Egyptian statues.
The unveiling of the statue caused a scandal. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem which had commissioned Danziger's statue was not happy with the result and religious circles made strong protests.