Katz was a caricaturist, political cartoonist, and illustrator of some of Israel’s best-loved children’s books. When he died at 83 in 2010, he had illustrated over 70 books, including Apartment for Rent by Leah Goldberg, I Like Whistling in The Street by Nurit Zarchi, the first 8 books of the Hasamba adventure series by Yigal Mossinson, and Menachem Talmi’s Sights and Knights of Jaffa. As a caricaturist, Katz served as a military illustrator for the IDF and drew throughout several wars. He followed the Israeli-Egyptian peace talks and took part in the Israeli-Jordanian peace accords signing ceremony, drawing what he witnessed.
Katz was known for his pleasant, modest demeanor and his elegant style, both European and distinctively Israeli. He was a master of the brush and the pen and a sketcher by God’s grace, who powerfully influenced most cartoonists working in Israel today. Katz flourished in an age of print journalism, which meant that writers and illustrators who could convey the events of the day often had front-row seats at those events.
Born in 1926 in Vienna, Katz and his younger sister were smuggled into Hungary in 1938. Six years later, he was recruited to forced labor in Slovakia and Yugoslavia. In 1944, he returned to Budapest, joined the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement, and made aliyah to Israel in 1946. His ship was intercepted by the British and along with the other passengers, he was interned in Cyprus, behind barbed wire in POW camps originally built for German soldiers. In 1948, he and several of his friends founded Kibbutz Ga’aton. His awards include the Nordau Prize for Arts (1974), the Dosh Caricature Award (2006) and the “Golden Pencil” for lifetime achievement by the Israeli Cartoon Museum (2007).
This is drawn from his obituary by Nirit Anderman, in HaAretz, Sunday, 28 March 2010.
The Eloquent Line of Shmuel Katz
Pieces Listed:
Hana Greenfield's Israeli Art Collection 