Zeev Ben-Zvi () (1904–1952) was an Israeli sculptor born in Ryki, Poland, whose work influenced a generation of sculptors. Biography Zeev Ben-Zvi studied at Academy of Fine Art in Warsaw. In 1923, he immigrated to Mandatory Palestine, where he studied at the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem from 1923 to 1924. When the New Bezalel School opened, he taught sculpture there from 1926 to 1927. In 1937, he travelled to Paris and then to London from 1937-1938. He specialized in portrait heads in beaten copper and mounded plaster, which he treated in a cubist manner. In 1947, he created the monument "In Memory of the Children of the Diaspora" in Mishmar Haemek. Awards and recognition In 1953, Ben Zvi received the Dizengoff Prize for Sculpture. Also in 1953, he was awarded the Israel Prize, for sculpture, being the inaugural year of the prize, and was accordingly the first artist to be awarded this honor. See also List of Israel Prize recipients List of Polish Jews Ben-Zvi Further reading Newman, Elias, Art in Palestine, Siebel Company, publishers, New York 1939 Gamzu, H., Ben-Zvi, Sculptures, 1955 References External links Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni Academic staff of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Israel Prize in sculpture recipients Israeli sculptors Modern sculptors Jewish sculptors Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine People from Ryki Jews in Mandatory Palestine Jewish Israeli artists 1904 births 1952 deaths Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw alumni 20th-century Polish sculptors Polish male sculptors 20th-century Israeli male artists