Zahara Schatz (Israeli, 1916-1999), Untitled

circa 1970s, two-part kinetic brass sculpture, signed to base.
59 1/2 x 17 x 12 in.
Artist, sculptor, and designer, Zohara ("Zahara") Schatz, was born on July 20, 1916, in Jerusalem. Her father was Boris Schatz, the founder of Bezalel Academy of Arts & Design, Jerusalem, and her brother was artist Bezalel or "Lilik".

Zahara studied at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Arts Decoratifs in Paris from 1934 to 1937, as well as attending classes at Académie de la Grande Chaumière.

After graduation Schatz moved to the United States, settling in California, and married American sculptor Elliott Franz Sandow (1910–1976). In the 1940s, Schatz taught art classes at the California Labor School in Berkeley, and began designing and building acrylic lamps.

Schatz was part of the Big Sur artists'/writers' colony that included San Francisco sculptor Benny Bufano, author Henry Miller, her sister-in-law Louise Schatz, and her brother Bezalel Schatz.

Schatz exhibited in the U.S. and Europe. In 1951, Schatz won an award for the Table Lamp Model No. T-4-S, at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York City, which was later manufactured by the Heifez Company.

In 1951, she returned to Israel, however she maintained a residency in Berkeley, California up until the 1970s. In 1951, Zahara Schatz, Bezalel Schatz, and her sister-in-law Louise Schatz formed the Yaad craft workshop, located in Israel and rooted in European-American modernism.

In 1959, she participated in the Venice Biennale of 1959 and designed the gate, built at the Bezalel Academy for Art and Design for the President's House. Zahara also worked as an adviser on industrial design at the Ministry of Commerce and Industry for Israel.

Additional high-resolution photos are available at www.lelandlittle.com

Some minor surface scratches and light spotting to metal; overall good estate condition.