Aryeh Elhanani (Sapozhnikov) was born in Russia and studied at the School of Arts and Architecture in Kiev. His exposure to avant-garde art during his studies profoundly influenced his creative output. After immigrating to Palestine in 1922, Elhanani began designing sets and costumes for theatrical productions, employing the aesthetics of the Russian avantgarde he had absorbed while in Kiev. As an architect, Elhanani designed a number of buildings in Tel Aviv, including the Wix Library at the Weizmann Institute of Science in 1957 and the Hall of Remembrance at Yad Vashem from 1957 to 1961. In 1973, Elhanani was awarded the Israel Prize for his important contributions to Israeli architecture.
In his malodorous brain what slugs and mire,
Lanthorned in his oblique eyes, guttering burned!
His body lodged a rat where men nursed souls.
The world flashed grape-green eyes of a foiled cat
To him…
A song I engraved on the tombstone (matzevet) of my master, my father, may he be remembered for the life of the world to come. The holy seed shall be its stock (matzavtah; Isaiah 6:13), is it not the…
And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God.—Job 19:26O the chimneysOn the ingeniously devised habitations of deathWhen Israel’s body drifted as smokeThrough the…