About Igael Tumarkin

Igael Tumarkin was born in Dresden, Germany, in 1933.
Immigrated to Israel at the age of two, with his mother, who married Herzl Tumarkin. He was raised in Tel Aviv and Bat Yam. In 1954 he studied with Rudi Lehman, in Ein Hod.
In 1955 he moved to Berlin to work as a scenographer for Bertolt Brecht and the Berliner Ensemble. In 1956 returned to Israel and created his first iron sculpture, inspired by Dantziger: two owls sitting atop each other. In the following years he started creating sculptures from different scraps and iron, which he defines "Absurd creations - archeology in present time." In 1961 went to the Negev region and built models of landscape sculptures.
In 1962 traveled to Japan and the US to study Japanese painting techniques. A year later returned to Israel and created his Dessert sculptures in Arad and Dimona. He then began sculpting using weapons and their different parts (like his famous Hu Halach Basadot - He Walked the Fields, from 1967). He also created several notable monuments such as the Peace Monument in Lod, constructed from tank parts, and the famous Holocaust Memorial in Rabin Square. In 2004 he received the prestigious Pras Yisrael (Israel Prize) for art.