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Russian-born Nachum Gutman studied to be an artist, but is best known as a illustrator of children's books. He also wrote children's stories. His father was a writer. He was born in Bessarabia when it was still part of Tsarist Russia. The family migrated to Eretz Yisrael before World War I when Nachum was still a boy. Palestine at the time was part of the Ottoman Empire. He grew up in Yaffo, a small village which was to become Tel Aviv. His childhood experiences are described in A Small City with Few People and Between Sands and Blue Skies.
Nachum's father was a writer.
Nachum was born in Bessarabia when it was still part of Tsarist Russia. (Another source says Romania.) Conditions were diffificult for Russian Jews. Bessarabia was a territory seized by the Russians from the Ottomans (1812). We are unsure as to the details which led the family to emmigrate to Palestine. Bessarabia was a territory ontained by Romania after World War I. The Soviet Union seized the territory after World War II began (1940). When the NAZIs invaded the Soviet Union (1941), German and Romanian troops retook Bessarabia. Most Bessarabian Jews perished in the Holocaust. The Soviets retook it (1944). With the breakup of the Soviet Union it hs become the independent country of Moldavia.
Naachum's family migrated to Eretz Yisrael when Nachum was still a small boy (1901). This was well before World War I and Palestine at the time was part of the Ottoman Empire. He grew up in Yaffo, a small village which was to become Tel Aviv. His childhood experiences are described in A Small City with Few People and Between Sands and Blue Skies.
Nachum attended the Herzlia Gymnasium, Tel Aviv. He then attended Bezalel, Jerusalem (1913-18). He was a rebelious student who objected to the old-fashioned program and methods.
The Ottoman Empire joined the Central Powers in World War I. General Allenby led a British Army into Pallestine which defeated the Ottomans and drove them out of Palestine, Lebanon, and Syria. Gutman joined the Jewish Legion which fought as part of the British Army. Palestine became a British protectorate under a League of Nations mandate.
Gutman began to study art at Bezalel before World War I. After the War he went to Europe to persue his art education. He was impressed with a number of artists, including Rousseau Dufy, Renoir, and Picasso. Matisse.
Gutman returned to Eretz Yisrael (1926). He participated in the notable Tower of David Exhibition.
Gutman's work projects a sense of childhood innocence. He often drawed on his childhood at Yishuv. He worked in different media, primarily oils, gouaches, and water colors. Showing the influence of modern artists, he was transfixed with color. When painting in oil, he often used blocks of pure basic colors. The colors in his water colors have a transparent look. He often depicted scenes from Palestine, including the Arabs. His work uses many Middle Eastern motiffs, including Assyrian reliefs and Egyptian wall paintings. He is particularly noted for his illustration of Bialik poems. His Tel Aviv mosacics are highly regarded. He is often regarded as "the artist of early Tel Aviv".
Gutman is perhaps best known today for his work as a children's author. He began to work in this area after World War I in the 1920s. He continued to work in this area throughout his career. He illustrated a children's weekly for three decades. He primarily added his illustrations, but occassionaly wrote stories as well. The style of his illustrations changed in the 1930s with new, lighter images. He described his goal as to stimulate curriosity in children. He helped found the area of children's literature in hebrew.
He received the Israel Prize for Children's Literature (1978).
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