Nahum Gutman

Nahum Gutman (1898–1980) worked in words and images, often finding his most distinctive expression in the encounter between them. His paintings, illustrations and books gave the developing life of the country a recognisable visual world: sand, streets, orchards, moving figures and local light. As a writer, he led children and adults between memory and adventure. The Israel Prize for children's literature, awarded to him in 1978, recognised an artist for whom seeing and storytelling were closely connected activities.

From Odessa's literary circles to a new city

Gutman was born in Telenești, Bessarabia, now in Moldova, to the Hebrew writer S. Ben-Zion and his wife Rivka. The family spent part of his childhood in Odessa, where his father's household belonged to the world of modern Hebrew literary renewal. They immigrated to Palestine in 1905. Neve Tzedek, Neve Shalom and the early neighbourhood of Ahuzat Bayit formed part of the environment in which his understanding of place developed.

He studied art as a young man, including at Bezalel, and continued his training in Europe after the First World War. Modern artistic encounters joined the Hebrew culture of his childhood and his knowledge of the local landscape. His work developed a visual language that could convey curiosity and apparent simplicity while remaining attentive to historical change.

A journey told twice: in words and drawings

Gutman became closely associated with Davar LiLadim, contributing illustrations and stories over many years. A journey to Africa in the 1930s led to an illustrated travel narrative later published as In the Land of Lobengulu, King of Zulu. Text and image work together as the narrator moves, responds and invites the reader into the adventure. The book combines experience and invention; it is a literary work, not a documentary account of African societies.

In The Orange Peel Path, The Great Vacation or the Mystery of the Crates and other books, a young observer encounters a tangible world of mystery, danger and discovery. The drawing does more than decorate a completed story. It contributes rhythm, humour and a perspective that may reveal something the narrator has not expressly stated.

Giving early Tel Aviv a shared memory

In A Small City and Few Men Within It, Gutman returned to the beginnings of Tel Aviv. People, houses and incidents from the growing city acquired a narrative and visual form that could be passed to later readers. His recollections are important to the city's cultural memory, while remaining an artist's reconstruction to be considered alongside other historical evidence.

He also carried this engagement beyond books into public space. His mosaics, including the work at Shalom Tower and his mosaic history of Tel Aviv, placed images of the city's past within its modern streets and buildings. Art about the city became part of the daily experience of living in it.

Landscape, public art and the young reader

Gutman's paintings also addressed Tiberias, the Sea of Galilee and other local settings. Colour and form convey light, warmth and the movement of life. He participated in the creation of a locally grounded artistic perspective during the Yishuv and the state's early years, and made drawings of the world around soldiers during the War of Independence.

Exhibitions and awards recognised the breadth of this activity, alongside his particular place in children's literature. The Nahum Gutman Museum of Art in Neve Tzedek continues to make the range of his work available, from painting and drawing to books and illustration. His combined practice suggests that a young reader is also a viewer, and that an image can initiate a literary conversation rather than simply accompany one.

Why Nahum Gutman belongs in Moreshet

Gutman belongs in Moreshet at Moreshet.com because he helped give modern Hebrew culture a shared visual and narrative memory. His work connected the generation of Hebrew literary renewal with children growing up in the country, and connected individual recollection with the identity of a city. Through concrete details, colours and a curious observer's perspective, he made formative Israeli experiences available to later audiences. His legacy demonstrates how art and literature can work together to build a sense of place.