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Biographical
Notes
(from the book "Jakob
Zim" Edited by Yona Fischer, published by Yedioth Aharonoth)
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1920
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Born July
2nd in Sosnowiec in southwestern Poland, the second of three
children of Gabriela née Berman and Herman Cymberknopf, a house
and sign painter. The family lives at 18 Targowa St. in the
Jewish quarter in the city center. Although they maintain a
Jewish way oa life, "it ws a progressive home in the spirit
of the Bund and social-democracy" [J.Z.]. Jakob attends
a public Jewish elementary school and studies Hebrew with a
private tutor together with his older brother Emmanuel. At the
urging of their teacher, the two boys join the Zionist Youth
movement. |
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| 1936-1939 |
Studies
painting, printing techniques, and applied graphics at the School
of Fine Arts in Sosnowiec. |
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1939 |
Germany
invades Poland. Sosnowiec falls on September 4th. Jakob abandons
his studies one year before graduation. |
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1940-1944
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Jakob and his brothers
find employment in an applied art studio, exempting them from
the first transport to the forced labor camps. On August 1,
1943, following the liquidation of the ghetto, Emmanuel and
their parents are sent to Auschwitz, and soon after, Jakob is
sent to the Annaberg labor camp, and from there, in January,
1944, to the Blechhammer concentration camp (both in Silesia),
where he is reunited with his younger brother Nathan. |
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1945
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In January,
the two brothers are part of the Death March to Buchenwald
concentration camp. Liberated in April, they join the goup
of "Buchenwald Children" taken to France, where
they recuperate in an OSE (Children's Rescue Operation) home
in the village of Ecouis in northeastern Normandy. Their names
appear on the list of "children and teenagers from various
camps in Germany who were interned on the Buchenwald camp,
transferred to France in early June, and left for Palestine
in August, 1945."
At his request, he is sent to Jerusalem "to study at
Bezalel." For a short while, he works in the studion
of Jakob Steinhardt. |
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1945-1947
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At the
new Bezalel, his instructors include the director Mordecai Ardon,
who teaches him painting, woodcuts, linoleum cuts, and illustration
("I owe to him the declaration 'painting is a profession'"),
Isidore Aschheim (drawing), Rudolph Deutsch-Dayan and A.K. Henschel
(Graphics), Yerahmiel Schechter (calligraphy), and Lou Landauer
(photography). He studies art history with Fritz Schiff and
music with the composer Joseph Tal. |
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| 1947 |
After graduation,
he works at a variety of temporary jobs, including the government
printing office of Israel Meteorological Service in Jerusalem.
Participates in his first exhibition, displaying a drawing in
the Jerusalem Artists exhibition at the Bezalel National Museum.
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| 1948 |
Inducted
into the Information Service in the War of Independence. During
the cease-fire, he marries Ruth Jules, a fellow student at Bezalel.
The couple would have four sons: Noam, Ilan, Emmanuel (Ami),
and Arnon. Soon after settling in Tel Aviv, he changes his name
to Zim. |
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1950-1952
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Works intensively
on the calligraphy and illumination of a Passover haggadah published
in 1952 by M. Neuman, Tel Aviv. Opens his first graphic studio
on Raanan St. in Tel Aviv, where he designs, among other things,
the independence Wreath and the crest of the city of Netanya.
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1954
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Group exhibition,
"Graphic Art in Israel", Tel Aviv Museum, Dizengoff
House. Opens a studio at 29 Lilienblum St. in Tel Aviv, where
he works until 1974. There he designs the half-lira and ten
lira notes (1956, in collaboration with the Shamir brothers),
Israel's Tenth Anniversary symbol (1958), the Holocaust stamp
(1961), the coins commemorating the Bank of Israel's tenth anniversary
(1964) and the liberation of Jerusalem (1968), the "Let
My People Go" coin (1971), the Knesset medallion (1971),
and the Memorial Day medallion (1973). Awarded prizes for these
and many other projects. |
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| 1962-1985 |
Teaches
graphic design in the Arts Stream of the WIZO-France High School,
Tel Aviv. Other faculty members include the painters Alexander
Bogen, John Byle, Robert Bazer, Aharon Giladi, Shmuel Tepler,
Edwin Solomon, and Moshe Rosenthalis, and the sculptors Moshe
Ziffer, Moshe Sternschuss, and Sonia Natra. "Our meetings
gave me the push to go back and devote myself to painting."
From the late 1960s, he takes his students to Safed, where he
paints and draws. |
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| 1966 |
Member
of the group of graphic artists representing Israel at Icograda
(International Conference of Associations of Graphic Artists)
at Bled in Yugoslavia, where he exhibits his designs, including
the Holocaust stamp. In 1971, he again participates in the Icograda
conference held in Vienna. |
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| 1972 |
The album
Impressions of Safed is published by Yedioth Ahronoth,
Tel Aviv. In honor of the occasion, a selection of his painting
on paper of Safed is exhibited at the Graphic Art Gallery, Tel
Aviv. |
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1974
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My
Peace: Paintings and Poems by Israeli Children, edited
and designed by Zim, is published by Sifrei Sabra, the America-Israel
Publishing Co. Moves to a studio near his home. Concentrates
on special projects, such as medallions and coins, and takes
part in invitational competitions, winning numerous prizes.
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| 1975 |
Travels
to Europe. Lives and paints at Cité des Arts, Paris. |
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| 1977 |
First solo
exhibition of oils on canvas, Holon Museum of Art. |
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| 1978 |
"Paintings",
solo exhibition, Graphics-3 Gallery, Haifa. |
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1979-1980;
1990-2000 |
Member
of the Bank of Israel Public Committee for the Design of Banknotes
and Coins. |
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| 1980 |
Solo exhibition,
Ramat Gan Municipal Museum. |
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| 1981 |
Solo exhibition,
Painters and Sculptors Association Home, Tel Aviv. Group exhibition,
"The Sea", Bet Ariela Cultural Center, Tel Aviv. |
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1982
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Awarded
the Ministry of Education Lifetime Achievement Award for Outstanding
Teacher-Artist at Insea, International Seminar and Conference
on Art.
Solo exhibitions, Painters and Sculptors Association House,
Tel Aviv (catalogue); Artists House, Jerusalem (catalogue);
Municipal Gallery, Kfar Saba. |
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| 1983 |
Group exhibition
"Blue"' Painters and Sculptors Association House,
Tel Aviv. |
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| 1984 |
Solo exhibition,
Yad Lebanim Museum, Petach Tikva. Group exhibition, "Yellow",
Painters and Sculptors Association House, Tel Aviv. |
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| 1985 |
Second
Solo exhibition, Holon Museum of Art. |
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| 1986 |
Group exhibition,
"Everything in Proportion", Painters and Sculptors
Association House, Tel Aviv (Curator: Naomi Shalev). |
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| 1987 |
Group exhibition,
"New Bezalel, 1935-1955", Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator:
Gideon Ofrat). |
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| 1989 |
Group exhibition,
"Living with the Dream", Tel Aviv Museum of Art (curator:
Batia Donner). |
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| 1990 |
"Journey
of Kaddish", first trip to Poland after 48 years. Visits
Sosnowiec. |
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| 1991 |
"Two
Faces", third solo exhibition, Holon Museum of Art. The
exhibition travels to the Artists House, Jerusalem (catalogue).
Group exhibition of Polish-born international artists, "We
Exists", Zachẹta Gallery of Modern Art, Warsaw. |
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1993
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Comprehensive
solo exhibition, Museum Niepodleglosci, Warsaw. Further solo
exhibition, Extravagance City Gallery, Sosnowiec. Group exhibition,
"Artists' Homage: Between Countries Israel-Croatia",
Zagreb (catalogue); "Small Format", The Bar David
Museum of Jewish Art, Kibbutz Baram; "Ma'alot-Time-Place",
Art Center, Ma'alot. |
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| 1994 |
Solo exhibition,
"Journey to the Rusty Air", Yad Vashem Art Gallery,
Jerusalem (curator: Irit Salomon; catalogue). |
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| 1996 |
Curates
and participates in the exhibition "The Lengthening Shadow",
Painters and Sculptors Association House, Tel Aviv. "New
Painting", fourth solo exhibition, Holon Museum of Art
(catalogue). |
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| 2001 |
"Jakob
Zim: Works", display of six large-scale paintings in the
lobby of the Tel Aviv Performing Arts Center (curator: Udi Rosenwein). |
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| 2002 |
Group exhibition
of Polish-born international artists, Toruń Art Gallery next
to the Toruń University, Poland. |
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| 2003 |
Group exhibition,
"Sosnowiec from Near and Far", Museum Sosnowiec, Poland. |
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