Hi there!
I've been to "Neve Zedek" before and I've been to the Nahum Gutman Museum of Art before. However, now that the Tel-Aviv Municipality together with the museum have decided to offer FREE Guided tours in English, I thought I'd share that information with you by joining one and writing about it.
WHEN: Every Thursday at 10:00, near the tourist information stand on 10 Rothschild Blvd.
Trip Details
The celebrated painter, Nachum Gutman, lived in Israel from the age of 7 and accompanied the development of the city from its inception. His cartographic works map out the city time and again depicting the city's evolvement both from an architectural viewpoint and from a social viewpoint.
Above: Tiles from the gift shop. On the lower right hand side you can see a replication of a naive painting that maps out the early city.
Accordingly, the guided tour started with some of the historical sites that provide the background on Tel-Aviv and its founders. The first stop is at the Independence Hall near the statue of the first Mayor, Meir Dizengoff, where the timeframe is discussed.
Above: Old versus new. The statue of Meir Dizengoff who used to ride around the city on horseback versus Rothschild Blvd. as it looks today.
After a few more stops at some selected sites that enabled the guide to tell more about the early days in Tel-Aviv and details about Nachum Gutman's childhood and family life, we reached one of Nachum Gutman's major gifts to the city, his mosaic fountain. The fountain depicts biblical scenes as well as scenes from the new city of Tel-Aviv, which the guide was happy to go over before entering the charming section of Neve Zedek.
Above: The Mosaic Fountain
At Neve Zedek, the guide had a chance to present examples of two architectural styles that were common: the bauhaus and the eclectic style and to tell more anecdotes on additional founders. As luck would have it, we were able to enter the home of Shimom Rockach one of the founders and father of the third mayor of Tel-Aviv.
Above: Shimon Rokach's House.
From there we moved on to our last stop at the Nahum Gutman Museum of Art, which we were taken through as part of the guided tour and included free entrance into the museum. My visit was timely in that the museum is currently featuring an exhibition marking the 120th anniversary of his birth entitled "Hidden Landscapes and Hidden Maps". The exhibition displays a retrospective of his works including some works that were never previously exhibited.
Above: Nachum Gutman Museum of Art
In short, the tour was lovely and well narrated. If you have more time, you can expand on it by visiting additional locations mentioned in my two previous posts entitled:
and "Tel-Aviv: Semi-Dry with a Little Bit of Ice Cream on Top" Lastly, since we're just days away from Purim, I'd like to mention upcoming family events at the museum which you can enjoy with your children (for ages 6-12):
A special mask-making workshop on Saturday March 16th, 2019 between 11:00-13:00. The workshop will be led by led by Shachar Bechor, a graphic designer and illustrator and is based on Nachum Gutman's book "In the Land of Lubengulu, King of Zulu" and will teach participants about African masks.
A guided tour and workshop for illustration of the "Book of Esther" on Wednesday and Thursday Mar 20th & 21st, 2019 at 11:00.
Museum Contact Details: 21 Rokach Street Phone: 03-5161970 Hebrew Website
Best, Talma
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