The Israeli artist and recipient of the Israel Prize for sculpture passed away at the age of 90.
By JERUSALEM POST STAFFUpdated: MAY 29, 2021 22:58Israeli sculptor artist Dani Karavan poses for a picture at the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, on July 11, 2013.(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
Israeli sculptor and artist Daniel Karavan died on Saturday at the age of 90, Israeli media reported.
Karavan, a Tel Aviv native, studied art in both Italy and Paris, as well as in Tel Aviv and the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem.Although originally interested in mural work, Karaven switched his focus to sculpture design after realizing that the building materials used in Israel are not suited to hold murals well.Karavan become known for his work designing monuments and memorials which blend into the environment that they are designed for. His most famous works include the Monument to the Negev Brigade in Beersheba, the Way of Peace near the Israeli - Egyptian border, and the Memorial to the Holocaust at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Rehovot.
When asked in 2014 about his 1963 Monument to the Negev Brigade, Karavan said: "I wanted to create a place that people would love to come to in order to be there, to discover the place and through it the landscape and themselves - to experience. I wanted to create a place where children would play and that memory would be mixed in life. I wanted to create an environment for peace and not just for memory. "
The Monument to the Negev Brigade in the Southern Israeli city of Beer Sheba, in the Negev, on February 17, 2018. (Credit: HADAS PARUSH/FLASH90) Karavan's work is featured around the world in multiple sites and countries, including the wall in the Knesset plenum, White Square and Culture Square in Tel Aviv, the Human Rights Road in Nuremberg, Tolerance Square which is a tribute to Yitzhak Rabin, the UNESCO Center in Paris, and the Memorial to the Sinti and Roma Victims of National Socialism in Berlin .
View of the plenum hall of the Knesset, the Israeli parliament in Jerusalem on February 10, 2020. (Credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
In 1977 Karavan was awarded the Israel Prize for Sculpture, and in 2021 he was awarded the title of "the city's beloved" by Tel Aviv Municipality in honor of Independence Day. In his lifetime he was also awarded the UNESCO "Artist of Peace" award in 1996, the German "Emperor's Ring" award, and the "Praemium Imperiale" award of Japan in 1998 .
View of the "White Square" sculpture, created by Israeli artist Dani Karavan, in Edith Wolfson park, overlooking Tel Aviv, on December 14, 2020. (Credit: MIRIAM ALSTER/FLASH90)Karavan was a prominent voice for peace, and worked to promote tolerance throughout his life In 1992 he was placed 116th on the Meretz list in the elections to the Thirteenth Knesset, in 1996 he was placed in 110th place, in 2003 he was placed in 113th place, and in 2015 he was placed in 108th place in the elections to the 20th Knesset. In addition, he was also a member of B'Tselem's Public Council.On Saturday evening President Reuven Rivlin commented on his passing, saying that “Dani was an example and role model...his ever-innovative art will be sorely missed by us, he will be sorely missed by us.”Meretz chairman MK Nitzan Horowitz tweeted his condolences to Karavan's family, saying that: "I had the privilege of writing about him and his works around the world, and I was always impressed by his brilliant thinking."
דני קרוון, אמן דגול, חתן פרס ישראל, נפטר בגיל 90. דני היה חבר מרצ ותיק, וכשהתגייס כנגד עוולה כלשהי, לא ויתר ולא הרפה. היתה לי הזכות לכתוב עליו ועל יצירותיו בעולם, ותמיד התרשמתי מהחשיבה המבריקה שלו. יצירה אחת שלו אני רואה כל יום: הקיר בכנסת. בשם מרצ אני שולח תנחומים למשפחה היקרה. pic.twitter.com/GPqGrnSKbK
Also tweeting his condolences was Tel Aviv mayor, Ron Huldai, who said that Karavan had "left his mark on Tel Aviv, in material and in spirit." Karavan is succeeded by his wife, three children and two grandchildren.
