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Zvi Ehrman, born in Poland (1903-1993).

Zvi Ehrman was born in Lvov, Galicia to a traditional Jewish family. He attended a German-language elementary school. In 1914, the family fled to Vienna, where he went to high school. In 1920, he returned to Lvov to study at the local school for applied art. In 1927, he was accepted to the Academy of Art in Cracow, where he studied art, graphics and set design. He served as a board member of the Jewish Artists Association and a member of the Association of Polish Artists and Designers. He took part in the first General Art Exhibition in Poland in 1934, and had a solo show in Katowice.

When Lvov was occupied by the Nazis, Ehrman was imprisoned in the ghetto. In 1942, he fled to the Caucasus and found a job as a set designer in the local theater. After the war, he went back to Poland and worked as a stage designer at the Municipal Theater in Poznan. In 1947, he sailed to the Land of |srael aboard the SS Theodor Herzl, but the ship was detained and Ehrman was sent to a D.P. camp in Cyprus. There he worked as a teacher at an art school established by Zeev Ben-Zvi. After his aliyah, he earned a living as an architect for Amidar and Shikun u-Pituah housing companies. In 1966, he joined the art colony in Safed.

Ehrman’s work was greatly influenced by the modern art movement. Many of his paintings are landscapes. In 1998, Ehrman’s wife Erika awarded the Zvi Ehrman prize in memory of her husband to Zvi Tadmor for his artistic accomplishments and contribution to the Israel Association of Painters and Sculptors.

Education

1920-1927 Architecture and Interior Design, Institute of Applied Arts, Lviv, Poland
1927-1932 Art Academy, Krakow, Poland

Teaching

1931-1936 Painting, Jewish school, Brandz'in, Poland
1936-1939 Painting, Jewish high school, Krakow, Poland
1939 Technical school, Lviv, Poland
1947 Detention camp, Cyprus