Calendar for Israel's Children 1949/50.
Tel-Aviv: Lion the Printer, [1949]. 8¼” x 5”. Plastic spiralbound at top: 45 leaves printed rectos + title, paper front wrap and thin card rear. Good plus: moderately worn and spotted; several leaves a bit loose but holding.
This is an unrecorded, beautifully illustrated bilingual weekly calendar, per its introduction, “meant for all children of Israel, whether you live in Medinat Israel or anywhere else in the whole wide world.” It notably features designs by German-Israeli artist Anne Neumann.
Anne (Annie) Neumann was born in Germany in 1906 and studied at the Reinhardt Art Academy in Berlin. Her work won awards at the 1932 Berlin Annual Exhibition, and in 1933 she fled Nazi Germany for Israel. She became the romantic and professional partner of pioneering Israeli sculptor Batia Lishansky, and the two women exhibited widely until Neumann's death from cancer in 1955. Several notable philosophers and artists contributed to the catalog for the Annie Neumann Memorial Exhibition at the Tel Aviv Municipal Museum in 1956, and her work has appeared in solo and group exhibitions at galleries, the Tel Aviv Museum of Art and Jewish National Museum as recently as 2015.
This lovely calendar features Old Testament quotations, songs and poems, sketches and photographic images for every week of the Hebrew year 5710 (September 1949 to 1950). There are color illustrations depicting Jewish festivals and scenes of everyday life, with text in both Hebrew and English like “In Jerusalem's market place. Who'll buy? Who'll buy?” Photographic images reveal “Where Israel's engineers go to school,” “How we pen our goats in the Negev” and a young girl on a chair peering into a large bucket: “We have so much rain in Israel, we need a special measure!” It includes historical facts like “This Proclamation of Independence was signed on the 5th of Iyar, Yom Haatzmaut, which has become the State of Israel's birthday,” an image of flamingos (“We've come to live in Israel too – Our home is at the Tel-Aviv zoo”), children doing chores and with their teacher in a trench: “We mustn't miss our lessons, even if there is a war on!”
A fantastic, educational Hebrew and English calendar for children, with the work of an accomplished artist. Not located in OCLC or online. Good +. Item #9430
Price: $750.00