Mark Podwal: Artist Yeshiva
Mark Podwal 1945 - 2024
Mark Podwal’s art was his way of preserving Jewish history and identity. In this interview, Lindsey LeBoyer, Havurah’s Director of Fine Art, speaks with his son, Ariel Podwal, about his father’s legacy, creative journey, and lasting impact.
Lindsey Leboyer: I want to start with how art informed your father’s identity as a Jew. I think we often start from the reverse premise—that Jewishness or Judaism can inform art, but not necessarily vice versa. Mark often said that art was a form of prayer for him. Can you describe the role that his art making played for him spiritually?
Ariel Podwal: I think my father identified as an artist before he identified as a Jew. When he started school, his name was missing from the class roster, and it wasn’t until the teacher saw his drawings that they asked who he was. He would say that he wouldn’t exist if not for his art, so this kind of became his origin story. Being Jewish was extremely important to him, and he was very proud to be Jewish. I’m not sure when or why he started to draw Jewish subjects, but it makes sense that he combined these interests. I think he had a feedback loop between art and Judaism, and that could be why he excelled in both. That might also be why art was so spiritual to him, because art and Judaism in his mind were so connected. His parents were not religious, but he went to Jewish summer camp and learned everything very quickly. He was an extraordinary student
LL: A lot of artists I talk to describe a tension between their success in the art industry and their desire to examine Jewish ideas in their work. If there was ever a moment that those two goals were complimentary, I think it would have to have been your dad’s era, which many have described as the Golden Age of American Jewry. And yet, even then, William Lieberman of the MET advised Mark to “get out of this Jewish rut.” Can you tell me about how he navigated what seem like competing interests? What was his perspective on the art world vs. ‘Jewish art,’ and what do you think his advice would be to young artists today?
AP: Over the years, many people did tell my father—including me, which I’m now a little embarrassed about—to broaden his subject matter. I love that story about The Met because, even though Lieberman told my father that, he still acquired four of his Jewish works for The Met’s permanent collection. The Met Store used one of those works for a Passover seder plate and also reproduced many of his works for Jewish holiday cards, jewelry, two additional decorative plates, and prints
Metropolitan Museum of Art, Mark Podwal Seder Plate
My father only wanted to create art that he was interested in. When he was making political cartoons for the New York Times Op-Ed page, at one point he told The Times he only wanted to make drawings related to Jewish subjects, whether it was Middle East politics or Jewish culture, as well as medicine, since he was also a dermatologist. He was interested in opera and loved Mozart. One of his greatest achievements was designing nine limited-edition posters for The Metropolitan Opera—he did Aida, Don Giovanni, Nabucco, and more. Some of the most recognizable artists in the world like Chagall and Hockney made prints for The Met Opera, but I don’t think anyone made as many as my father did.
Nabucco at The Metropolitan Opera, Print by Mark Podwal.
Almost all his art focused on Jewish subjects, and I think if he did broaden his subject matter, he might not have been as accomplished as he was. Jewish history and culture is so rich, so he had a lot to be inspired about. That was important because he never liked to repeat himself. There are certainly themes that he has done over the years, and once in a while, he did another version of a work, but usually the work and idea was unique. I know that young artists would contact my father and ask him for advice over the years. He always encouraged them to find their own voice and style but to make work that they are interested in, not what other people are interested in.
LL: Your dad spent a lot of time in the old Jewish quarter of Prague, and was especially involved in the Altneuschul, which was the inspiration for several of his illustrations and textiles. Why do you think he felt so connected to Prague, and did he ever bring you there? If so, what was the experience like for you?
The Golem as told by Elie Wiesel, Illustrated by Mark Podwal (1983)
AR: Even before my dad visited Prague, I think because of its Jewish history—the Maharal, the Golem, the Altneuschul, etc—he was interested in it. In 1997 he had an exhibition at the Jewish Museum in Prague, and I believe he first visited a year before that. Since then, the Jewish community there welcomed him as one of their own.
He did many art projects there, including a documentary about the Jewish cemetery, which aired on PBS. The first book he made with Elie Wiesel was The Golem, and I believe my dad suggested the idea to Elie.
One of the highlights of his life was designing the textiles for the Altneuschul, and he even got a seat there with his name on it. I think he was more proud of those textiles than anything else he ever made. He would often make a joke that for the last thirty years or so, the Jewish community would use his artwork, and for the last twenty five years, with his permission.
I did visit Prague multiple times over the years and it was a very moving experience to be there with him. There is a documentary called “My Synagogue is in Prague” that Czech television made about my father, and I have a small cameo. They asked if I wanted to speak in it, but I was too shy at the time to do that.
Jewish Zodiac Mosaic floor design by Mark Podwal at The Museum at Eldridge Street, 2024.
LL: Did he ever give you his artworks as a gift or make something especially for you? Were there any works you really wanted that went to institutions or private collections?
AP: My father made my bar mitzvah invitation, which features a Torah Scroll with Jerusalem on top. The curtain on the Torah scroll includes the Gemini twins for my zodiac sign, which we both share.
In 2011, my father had an exhibition at the Center for Jewish History in New York. They asked him to draw on a wall, and there was a great photograph of him drawing a giant hamsa on a wall. My father really only made small works on paper, and since then, my brother and I begged him to paint bigger works on paper and to try canvas, which he had never worked on. Last year he made a big work on canvas for my brother’s 40th birthday of a flower with Jerusalem inside.
My father was very prolific but there are still many works that I wish we still had. It was very important for him that his art be publicly accessible—he is in over 80 public collections—so that it could be seen by many. It’s a balance, because artists can’t hold on to all their great works, but we do have pieces that the family will always keep.
Ariel and Mark Podwal in front of “In Commemoration of the Danish Rescue” by Mark Podwal, Museum of Jewish Heritage, 2024.
LL: What are your hopes for Mark’s legacy?
AR: This is a very difficult question to answer. I’ll tell you how I became interested in his art, because even though I always appreciated it as his son, I wasn’t generally interested in or knowledgeable about art. About eight years ago, I discovered that my mother’s family, who lived in Munich before the war, had a sizable Old Masters collection which was looted by the Nazis. I became obsessed with finding these artworks and learned about art history, the art market, and provenance research. My father told me many times over the years that he was happy for this discovery, not because we could get back the Old Masters, but because I finally came to appreciate art, and more specifically his art. Growing up a musician myself, I cared more about punk rock than Jewish art, but I’m glad I came to my senses.
If I had never made the looted-art discovery, I would never have become as interested in his art as I am now, but also not as knowledgeable. Knowledge of the industry and the market is incredibly important for his legacy, since it has to be actively managed. My father knew that I would continue on his legacy and that was extremely important to him. His favorite Yiddish proverb was, “If you want to give Gd a good laugh, tell him your plans.” Having said that, he always wanted to have a retrospective. He has a lot of work that has never been published that should be seen. His art teaches us about Judaism and antisemitism. It was really important to him that people learn about the Jewish people through his art, and I plan to continue that.
Mark Podwal
