Sculpture of a Jewish boy (Yemenite) sitting with folded legs, holding a book. Signed on the side: "Ze'ev Ben Zvi 1929". White ceramic painted black.
Sculptor Ze'ev Ben Zvi (Koyavsky, 1904-1952), Jewish artist born in Poland. In 1920-1923 studied painting in the school of arts in Warsaw. Made aliyah to Eretz Yisrael in 1923 and studied in "Bezalel" until 1925 with the guidance of Boris Schatz. In 1928 went to study in France where he was exposed to cubist art of Picasso and George Braque: in the following years created many realistic portraits (protomes) in a half-cubist style (amongst them Bialik, Tchernichovsky, Dizengof, Shemaryahu Levine, Aharon Meskin and others). Established a sculpting and copper-hammering workshop in the retention camps in Cyprus with the artist Naftali Bezem; since 1949 served as a teacher in "The New Bezalel" (David Palombo was one of his students). His works were exhibited in exhibitions in Israel and abroad.
The sculpture in front of us is of the period prior to his typical cubist creation.
"He totally mastered the material, easily solved problems and shaped the creation, which floated before his eyes since he had a remarkable plastic ability…". (Gavriel Talpir).
Height: 24 cm, maximum width: 34 cm. Good condition. Minor damages.