Yitzhak Danziger was born to a Zionist family in Berlin, Germany, in 1916 which relocated to Mandatory Palestine in 1923. After moving to England to attend boarding school and then studying sculpture at London’s Slade School of Fine Art and landscape design at the Architectural Association (AA) , Danziger eventually returned to Palestine, settling in Tel Aviv, where he became a pioneer of modern (Israeli) art. Known for his iconic sculpture 'Nimrod' (1939), Danziger’s work blends ancient Near Eastern influences with modernist abstraction.
Sculptor Yitzhak Danziger was born to a Zionist family in Berlin, Germany, on 26 June 1916. His father, a surgeon who had served in the German Army during the First World War, relocated the family to British Mandate Palestine in 1923, where they settled in Jerusalem. Danziger’s early education included art tutoring in 1925 at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem, under Zohara Schatz and he attended the renowned Herzliya Gymnasium and the Reali School in Haifa.
In 1933, Danziger travelled to England to attend Ottershaw College in Surrey. He later enrolled at the Slade School of Fine Art in London, where he studied sculpture under Professor Randolphe Schwabe from 1934 to 1937, and he subsequently attended the Architectural Association, (AA) as a student of landscape design. During his time in England, he formed a partnership, both personal and professional, with Marian Edie, an artist originally from Rangoon, who was one of his fellow students (and with whom he had a son, Jeremy, who also became a sculptor). While in London, Danziger frequently visited the British Museum and the Anthropological Museum, where he studied art from Ancient Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, India, Oceania, and Africa. These influences would shape his later work, particularly his use of symbolic motifs, such as the horned ram, which he used to explore the bond between humanity and nature. This early symbolism reflected a deep philosophical connection to the natural world and marked a key phase in his evolution, before transitioning to abstraction and Constructivism in the mid-1950s.
In 1937, Danziger returned to Tel Aviv and established a sculpture studio in the courtyard of the Danziger Clinic, which was founded by his father. It was during this time that he created his most iconic work, Nimrod (1939). The sculpture, depicting a nude hunter with a sword at his side and a falcon perched on his shoulder, reimagined the biblical figure as a heroic and primal archetype. Drawing on influences from Ancient Egyptian art and the natural world, Nimrod became a powerful symbol of the new emerging Israeli identity, prior to the founding of the State of Israel in 1948. The work was controversial among religious circles, but later came to be regarded as a masterpiece of Israeli modern art. During the 1940s, Danziger moved to Jerusalem and joined the Palmach, the active fighting arm of the Haganah, participating in the defense of the nascent Israeli state.
In 1946 Danziger spent time in Perpignan, in the South of France, before settling in London that September. There, he reconnected with former Slade classmates, including prominent sculptors, Eduardo Paolozzi and Kenneth Armitage. To support himself financially, Danziger worked on restoring building facades, including the Neo-Gothic stone carvings on the Houses of Parliament. Alongside these efforts, he refined his craft, producing large-scale sculptures and heads, and exhibited frequently. In 1949, Danziger and Marian Edic showcased their art at the Brook Street Gallery in London. The exhibition, opened by Mrs. Lorna Wingate, featured Danziger’s sculptures inspired by Palestinian themes and Edic’s tempera and oil paintings, depicting scenes in London and the South of France.
From 1948 to 1955, Danziger divided his time between Tel Aviv, London, and Paris, working as an assistant to émigré sculptor, Ossip Zadkine in Paris and exhibiting annually at London’s ICA. He returned to Tel Aviv in 1955, where he began teaching three-dimensional design at the Technion in Haifa. A pioneer of the Canaanite Movement, Danziger sought to redefine Israeli cultural identity by drawing on Semitic and regional roots, while embracing modernist abstraction. He later became a central figure in the New Horizons group, which aimed to merge local themes with global artistic trends. Danziger’s career was marked by numerous accolades, including the Dizengoff Prize (1945), the Sandberg Prize for Israeli Art (1969), and a commission for a monumental sculpture for the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City. His innovative approach extended to public art and landscape design, influencing cultural and architectural spaces across Israel. Yitzhak Danziger died in a road accident near Ramla, Israel, on 11 July 1977, while travelling to Jerusalem. In the UK public domain, Danziger’s work is represented in the British Museum collection, which holds three abstract prints by the artist.
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Yitzhak Danziger]
Publications related to [Yitzhak Danziger] in the Ben Uri Library