Born in Tel Aviv, Israel on December 7th 1930

Married to Hava, father to Noa, Tamar and Yael, grandfather to Itamar and Alma

Lives and works in Tel-Aviv, Paris and Florence 

1943-1944 Studied painting at Studio Aharon Avni, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1945-1948 Studied painting at Studio Avigdor Steimatzky, Yehezkel Streichman and Marcel Janco, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1948-1955 Founding member of Kibbutz Harel, Israel

1949         Studied art with the painter Mordechai Ardon, Bezalel Academy of Art and Design, Jerusalem, Israel

1950         Studied set design with Emmanuel Luftglass at Givat Haviva and with Paul Levi at the Theatre School of the
        ameri Theatre, Tel Aviv, Israel

1956-1957 Studied Fresco technique with Prof. Colaccichi at the Academia di Belle Arti, Florence, Italy

1957         Studied drawings at the Académie de la Grande Chaumière, Paris, France 
        Studied mosaic technique at the Academia di Belle Arti, Ravenna, Italy

1964         Founding member of the Batsheva Dance Company

Early Works 

1946-1955 Illustrations for various publications of Hashomer Hatzair Movement, Israel

1950-1969 Stage sets for the Nahal entertainment group, Israel

1953-1955 Illustrations for the weekly children’s magazine “Mishmar L’Yladim”, Israel

                Landscape, Still Life and Portraits - drawings and paintings in the vicinity of Kibbutz Harel, Israel

1954-1956 Landscape drawings in the southern suburbs of Tel-Aviv, and abandoned Arab houses around Tel Aviv, Israel

1957-1989 Illustrations and covers for books & magazines, Israel

1958         Design of the pavilions of the Ministry of Development at the exhibition celebrating the 10th Anniversary of

                israel, Jerusalem, Israel

1958-1959 Drawings and paintings in egg tempera and oil, Israel

1960-1969 Stage sets for the Cameri Theatre, Israel

1961         Stage set for the Inbal Dance Company, Rena Gluck Dance Company, Israel

1961-1975 Stage sets for the Bimot Theatre, Israel

1962-1974 Stage sets for the Martha Graham Dance Company, New York, USA

1964-1976 Stage sets for Batsheva Dance Company, Israel

1970-1978 Small sculptures and multiples

1971-1972 Stage set for the Opera “Il Consule” by Giancarlo Menotti, the Israel Festival, Tel-Aviv, Israel & Maggio Musicale

                Festival, Florence, Italy & Festival dei Due Mondi, Spoletto, Italy

1973-1974 Stage sets for the Israel Chamber Ensemble

1974-1976 Stage sets for the Bat Dor Dance Company, Israel 

1975         Stage sets for the Moshe Efrati Dance Company (Kol Udmama), Israel, Stage set for Haifa theatre, Israel,

                "Jerusalem City of Peace”, multiple sculptures, “Euroart”, Vienna, Austria“Meditations on Peace in Pencil, Gold &

                Blue” for the book “Shalom” by Arie Eliav, Massada Publishing House, Israel 

Permanent Works 

1961         Wall painting, Sheraton Hotel, Maccabim Hall, Tel Aviv 

1962-1967 35 wall reliefs, iron sculpture & environmental sculpture, Court of Justice, Tel Aviv, Israel

1962-1964 "From the Tree of Knowledge to the Tree of Life", wall relief, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rechovot, Israel

1963         Wall Paintings (total environment), “Peace-Pipe” hall, the Israeli ship, “Shalom”, Zim Shipping Company, Israel

1963-1968 “Negev Monument”, environmental sculpture, Beer Sheba, Israel

1965-1966 "Pray for the Peace of Jerusalem", wall relief, Knesset Assembly Hall (Israeli Parliament), Jerusalem, Israel

1965-1971 “Old-New City Crossed by a River”, wall relief, Diener & Diener Architects Office, Basel, Switzerland

1968-1970 “From Dunes to High Technologies”, wall relief, Bank Leumi, Tel Aviv, Israel

1968-1972 “Memorial to the Holocaust”, environmental sculpture, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rechovot, Israel

1968-1973 "Denmark School Square", environmental sculpture, Denmark Junior High School, Jerusalem, Israel

1969-1975 Wall reliefs and sculptures, for El Al Airways Company (El Al Offices, Zurich, Switzerland; El Al Terminal,

                kennedy Airport, New York, USA; El Al Offices, Ben Gurion Airport, Israel)

1974         Indoor environmental sculpture + relief, Holliday Inn (Hilton), Jerusalem, Israel

1975-1977 Wall relief, Yediot Aharonot Building, Tel Aviv, Israel

1975-1980 Wall relief, Discount Bank, 5th Avenue, New York, USA

1976         "Flags", Triptych wall relief, Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv, Israel (currently in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art)

                "Jerusalem City of Peace", sculpture, first shown at the entrance of the Giardini of the 38th Venice Biennale, Italy,

                today at the Spazi d'Arte, Fattoria di Celle, Santomato, Pistoia, Italy

1977         "Heichal", wall painting, King Solomon Room, Hilton Hotel, Tel Aviv, Israel

                "Measure", sculpture, Rome Quadriennale, Italy (currently in the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art)

1977-1988 "Kikar Levana", environmental sculpture, Edith Wolfson Park, Tel Aviv, Israel

1979         Wall relief, Maiersdorf House, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel

1979-1980 "Indoor Environmental", Hotel Hilton Noga, Geneva, Switzerland

                "Line + Space", indoor environmental sculpture, Entrance Hall, Bank Leumi, Lyn House, Tel Aviv, Israel

1980         Commissioned to create the "Axe Majeur", a 3 Km urban environment, Cergy-Pontoise, France

                "Joint Square", environmental sculpture, the Joint Building, Givat Ram, Jerusalem, Israel 

1980-1986 "Ma'alot", environmental sculpture, Ludwig Museum, Cologne, Germany

1982         "Square", environmental sculpture, Louisiana Museum for Moderne Kunst, Humlebaeck, Denmark

1982-2000 "Line 1, 2, 3 + 1 + 1 = 5", environmental sculpture, Spazi d'Arte, Fattoria di Celle, Pistoia, Italy

1985         Wall relief, Bank Leumi, Wall Street, New York, USA

1987         "East - West", sculpture, Peace meeting between Palestinians and Israelis, Neve Shalom, Israel

1987-1988 "Way of Light - Homage to King Sejong", environmental sculpture, Olympic Sculpture Park, Seoul, South Korea

1989         "Dialogue", environmental sculpture, Sculpture Park, Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany

1989-1991 "Tzafon", sculpture, Landtag, Nordrhein-Westfalen Parliament, Düsseldorf, Germany

1989-1993 "Way of Human Rights", environmental sculpture, Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany 

1989-1999 "Carré Urbain", environmental sculpture, Le Parc des Sources de la Bièvre, Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, France 

1989-2000 "Esplanade Charles de Gaulle", environmental sculpture, La Défense, Nanterre, France 
        Wall Relief, Center West, Los Angeles, USA

1990-1991 "Ohel", environmental sculpture, Shiba Hospital, Tel Hashomer, Israel

1990-1994 "Passages, Homage to Walter Benjamin", environmental sculpture, Portbou, Spain 
        "Sulam Ya'acov", wall relief, New Auditorium of the Knesset (Israeli Parliament), Jerusalem, Israel

1990-1998 “Gan-Hameyasdim, Yad-Lebanim”, environmental sculpture, Hedera, Israel

1992-1999 "Way to the Hidden Garden", environmental sculpture, Sapporo Open Air Sculpture Park, Sapporo, Japan

1993-1994 "Homage to the Prisoners of Gurs", environmental sculpture, National Monument, Gurs, France

1993-1995 "Ma'ayan", environmental sculpture dedicated to the Hiroshima victims, Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan

1993-1998 "Square of Tolerance–Homage to Yitzhak Rabin” environmental sculpture, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France

1994-1995 “Dorfplatz”, environmental sculpture, Horgen, Zurich, Switzerland

1995         "Adama, Admati", indoor environmental sculpture, Bank Hapoalim, Tel Aviv, Israel

1995-1999 "Migdal Hadmaot”, environmental sculpture, Memorial Space, Latrun, Israel

1995-2001 "Gates of Knowledge”, environmental sculpture, Città della Scienza, Naples, Italy

1996-1997 "Ma’ala", environmental sculpture, Nagai Olympic Stadium, Osaka, Japan 
        "Homage to Mercure", environmental sculpture, Clermont-Ferrand, France 
        “Homage to the Communards”, environment, Rue de la Roquette, Paris, France \

1996-1999 "Garden of Memories", environmental sculpture, Altstadtpark, Duisburg, Germany

1996-2000 "Way of Peace", 3km environmental border sculpture, Nitzana, Israel (near the border with Egypt)

1997         "Mima’amakim", indoor environment in 2 former coal factories, Gelsenkirchen, Germany 
        “Man Sang”, environmental sculpture, Sculpture Garden, Tong Yong, Korea

1997-2002 "Grundgesetz 49", environmental sculpture, Dorotheenblöcke, Parliament Building, Berlin, Germany

1997-2005 “Mizrach”, environmental sculpture, Neupfarrplatz, Regensburg, Germany

1998         "Homage to Tadashi Tonoshiki", environmental sculpture, Kitakyushu Municipal Museum of Art,

                Kitakyushu, Japan

1998-2000 "Bereshit", environmental sculpture, Kirishima Open Air Museum, Kagoshima, Japan

                "Bridges", environmental sculpture, Goslar, Germany

1998-2006 "Murou Art Forest”, environmental project, Murou village, Nara Prefecture, Japan

1999         “Te”, indoor environment, Spazi d'Arte, Sala Palazzina, Fattoria di Celle, Santomato, Pistoia, Italy

1999-2000 "Midbar", environmental sculpture, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1999-2001 Environmental project, 6th International Sculpture Symposium, Santo Tirso, Portugal

2002         "Adam & Eve", sculpture, Il Giardino di Daniel Spoerri, Tuscany, Italy 
        “Tzmicha – Crescita”, sculpture, Biennale de Carrara, Carrara Museum of Art, Carrara, Italy

2003         “1933” environmental sculpture, German Federation of Trade Unions, Duisburg, Germany

2004         “Chair on the Roof”, environmental sculpture, The Chiaopanshan International Sculpture Park, Taoyuan, Taipei, 

                Taiwan

                “Hatzer”, environmental sculpture, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Porto Rico

2004-2005 “Alma Tower”, environmental sculpture, Rabin Health Center, Petach Tikva, Israel
        “Sukkah”, environmental sculpture, Padiglione di Emodilalisi, Ospedale di Pistoia, Pistoia, Italy

2004-2006 “Mifgash”, environmental sculpture, Villa Lemm, Berlin, Germany
 

Works in progress 
 

Since 1980 "Axe Majeur", a 3 Km urban environment, Cergy-Pontoise, France

Since 1992 “Three Continent Project”, Transcultura, environmental sculpture, Africa, Asia, Europe

Since 2000 “Homage for the Holocaust of the Sinti and Roma”, environmental sculpture, Berlin, Germany

Since 2005 “Cultural Square”, Environmental Sculpture, Tel Aviv, Israel

Since 2006 "Garden Sculpture", Harel, Jerusalem, Israel

                 "Back Home" fountain, Villa Pecci, Florence, Italy

Since 2007 “Light Wheel”, environmental sculpture, entrance junction, Calenzano, Italy 
         "Ceiling Sculpture", Gori Headquarters, Calenzano, Italy 

Solo Exhibitions 

1971 Galeria Bellini, Florence, Italy

1973 Gordon Gallery, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1975 Gordon Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

1976 "Environment for Peace", Israeli Pavilion, 38th Venice Biennale, Italy 
"Jerusalem City of Peace", entrance to the gardens of the 38th Venice Biennale, Italy

1978 "Two Environments for Peace", Forte di Belvedere, Florence and Castello dell'Imperatore, Prato, Italy

1982 “Makom", Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel
"Makom", Staatliche Kunsthalle Baden-Baden, Baden-Baden, Germany

1983 "Way", Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany

1984 “Makom 1”, De Beyerd - Centrum voor Beeldende Kunst, Breda, Netherlands
"3 Accesses", Museum Kroller Muller, Otterllo / Haags Gemeentemuseum, The Hague / Boymans van Beuningen Museum, Rotterdam, Netherlands

1989 "Untitled", Kunstsammlung Nordrhein-Westfalen, Düsseldorf, Germany

1992 "Dani Karavan", Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany

1993 "Dani Karavan -Way of Human Rights", Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg, Germany
"Passages - Walter Benjamin", installation, Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, Netherlands

1994 "Passages", installation, Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany

1994-1995 "Time Space Meditation - Dani Karavan":
Kamakura Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Japan
Ohara Museum of Art, Kurashiki, Japan
The Miyagi Museum of Art, Sendai, Japan
Tsukuba Museum of Art, Ibaraki, Japan
Mie Prefectural Art Museum, Tsu, Japan
Museum of Contemporary Art, Sapporo, Japan
Yamanashi Prefectural Museum of Art, Kofu, Japan

1996 "Retrospective", Mönchehaus-Museum für Moderne Kunst, Goslar, Germany
"Shamaim", Sagacho Exhibit Space, Tokyo, Japan

1997-1998 “Winter 97: Dani Karavan”, Museum of Israeli Art, Ramat Gan, Israel
“Passages - Homage to Walter Benjamin”, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel-Aviv, Israel

1999 "21 Years Later":
"Homage to Arnolfo di Cambio", Sala dei Armi, Palazzo Vecchio, Piazza Signoria, Florence, Italy
“Homage to Frederic II”, Centro per l'Arte Contemporanea Luigi Pecci, Prato, Italy
“Nursery for Peace”, Piazza Duomo, Pistoia, Italy

2002 "Pardes", IVAM - Institut Valencià d'Art Modern, Valencia, Spain
"Dani Karavan Site Specific Works", Moscow State Museum of Architecture, Moscow, Russia

2005 "Dani Karavan, Drawings and Sculptures", FIAC, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, Paris, France

2007-2008 “Dani Karavan – Retrospective”, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Tel Aviv, Israel

2008 “Dani Karavan – Retrospektive”, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
“Dani Karavan – Retrospective”, one-man exhibition, Setagaya Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan

2008-2009 “Dani Karavan – Retrospective”, one-man exhibition, Nagasaki Prefectoral, Museum, Nagasaki, Japan  

Selected Group Exhibitions 
 

1954 “Artists of the Kibbutz Movement”, Mikra Studio, Tel Aviv, Israel

1965 “10+”, Masada Gallery, Tel Aviv, Israel

1975 “Jewish Experience in Contemporary Art”, The Jewish Museum, New York, USA
International Biennale of Small Scale Sculptures, Padua, Italy

1977 "Environment Made of Nature Materials and Memories", environmental installation, Documenta 6, Kassel, Germany

        “Measure”, “Rome Quadriennale X” a tribute to the Museum of History of Science, Florence, Italy

1980 "Line of Light", laser Installation, Contemporary Art Meeting, Tel Hai, Israel

1981 "Sand Drawing", installation, "Myth and Ritual", Kunsthaus Zurich, Switzerland
"Mizrach", telescope sculpture, "Westkunst", Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany
“Autoritratti del Novecento per gli Uffizi”, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy
“A Solution for a situation” , “Trends in Israeli Art 1970-80”, Basel Art Fair, Basel, Switzerland

1983 Laser installation between the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, the Eiffel Tower and La Defense, "Electra", Paris, France
"Reflexion/Reflection", installation, 10th anniversary of ARC, Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris, France
"Bridge", installation, 17th Biennale of Sculpture, Middelheim, Belgium

1985 "Be'er", sand installation, "From the Bible until our Days – 3000 ", Grand Palais, Paris, France

1986 "Two Parallel Lines", laser installation, Musée de Marseille, France

1987 "Utopic Design of Koenigstrasse", installation, Documenta 8, Kassel, Germany

1988 “Axe Majeur Cergy-Pontoise”, French Pavilion, XVII. Triennale – "The cities of the world and the future of the metropolis", Milan, Italy

1989           "L’Europe des Créateurs – Utopie 89", Grand Palais, Paris, France
“Hastudia”, Artists House, Tel Aviv, Israel

1990 “House for an Olive Tree”, installation, "From Chagall to Kitaj - Jewish Experience in 20th Century Art", Barbican Art Gallery, London, England

1990           “Bait", environmental sculpture, 4th International Symposium of Contemporary Art, Tel Hai, Israel

1990-1991 L’art Renouvelle la Ville – L’Art Contemporain et Urbanisme en France", travelling exhibition, the Museums of Ibaraki, Osaka, Sendai, Fukuoka, Sapporo, Yamanashi and Yokohama, Japan

1991           "Israeli Sculpture", Hara Museum, Tokyo, Japan
"La Lumière et la Ville", Espace Art Défense, La Défense, France

1992           "Israeli Sculpture", National Contemporary Art Museum, Seoul, Korea
"L'Art Renouvelle la Ville – Urbanisme et Art Contemporain", Musée National des Monuments Français, Palais de Chaillot, Paris, France

1994 "La Ville – Art et Architecture en Europe 1870-1993", Musée National d'Art Moderne - Centre Pompidou, Paris, France
"Bavua 1 - Reflection of an Olive Tree”, installation, 3rd Sculpture Biennale, Ein Hod, Israel

1995 "Dodici Pensieri", drawings, "Risarcimento - Artisti Contemporanei per gli Uffizi", Cabinetto dei disegni e stampe, Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence, Italy

1998 “Hebrew Work”, Museum of Art, Ein Harod, Israel
“Mashal Yotam”, installation, “Social Realism in the 50’s / Political Art in the 90’s”, Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa, Israel
“Har Homa”, installation, “Kadima - To the East: Orientalism in the Arts in Israel”, The Israeli Museum of Art, Jerusalem, Israel
"Yonati Behagvei Hasella”, installation, "The Garden – a Metaphor", Botanic Gardens, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel 

1999 "Sukkat Shalom", environment, "Les Champs de la Sculpture 2000", Champs Elysées, Paris, France
“Sabar-Sabre”, installation, “Kulturäume. Skulptur seit 1970”, Wilhelm Lehmbruck Museum, Duisburg, Germany

2000 "In Memory of a Tree", installation, “Heidelberg Outdoor Project”, Heidelberg, Germany 
“ZIMZUM – Aktuelle Kunst aus Israel“,Heidelberger Kunstverein, Heidelberg, Germany

2001 "Kadish - Requiem for a Tzabar", installation, "Messages to the New Millennium - Israeli Art Modern", Museum of Modern Art, Kamakura, Japan
“Love at First Sight - The Vera, Silvia and Arturo Schwarz Collection of Israeli Art”, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
“Passages“, installation, “Rèquiem per l’Escala / Requiem por la Escalera”, CCCB - Centre de Cultura Contemporània, Barcelona, Spain

2005 “Negev Monument“, “Die Neuen Hebräer – 100 Jahre Kunst in Israel”, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, Germany
“Murou Art Forest”, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, FIAC, Paris, France

2006 Railway track installation, “Israele – Arte e vita 1906-2006”, Palazzo Reale, Milan, Italy
"Prophète", sculpture, "Têtes", group exhibition, Galerie Jeanne Bucher, FIAC, Paris, France

2007 “Jerusalem, City of Peace”, sculpture “Chocolate – Design Sight Exhibition”, Issey Miyake Art Space, Tokyo, Japan
“Il Console”, models and photos, “Musica in Scena, artisti nei 70 anni del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino”, Galleria d’Arte Moderna di Palazzo Pitti, Florence, Italy 
 

Awards And Prizes 

1958 First prize for the design of the pavilions of the Ministry of Development at the exhibition celebrating the 10th Anniversary of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel

1973 Member of the Italian Order of Arts and Letters

1977 The Israel National Prize for Art and Science (Prass Israel)

1987 Marble Architectural Award of Western Europe, Carrara, Italy

1992 Silver Medal of the French Academy of Architecture

1993 Commander of the French "Ordre des Arts et des Lettres" 
UNESCO's Picasso Medal

1995 Crystal Award, World Economic Forum, Davos, Switzerland

1996 Goslar Kaiser Ring for Art, Germany 
UNESCO’s “Artist for Peace"

1997 Doctor Honoris Causa, Doctor of Philosophy, Haifa University, Israel

1998 Member of the “Orden pour le Mérite” (The Academy of Art & Science founded in 1884), Germany 
Praemium Imperiale Award (Nobel Prize for the Arts), Japan 

1999 Goethe Medal, Germany 
Doctor Honoris Causa, Doctor of Philosophy, Hebrew University, Jerusalem

2000 Member of the “Academia del Disegno” (founded by Giorgio Vasari,1500), Florence, Italy

2002 Doctor Honoris Causa, Doctor of Philosophy, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

2003 Honorary Fellow of the Shenkar College of Engineering and Design

2004 Piepenbrock Prize for sculpture, Berlin, Germany

2005 Premio Michelangelo, Carrara, Italy

2007 The Commander’s Cross of the Order of the Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (fourth level), awarded by the President of Germany

2008 Magshim (“Implementer”) Award, the Council for a Beautiful Israel, for excellence n improving the quality of life and of the environment in Israel