Picasso sketch of ex-J’lem mayor narrowly avoids trash
Previously unknown doodle of Teddy Kollek, who founded the Israel Museum, found in catalog of Spanish artist’s 1965 exhibit
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on GoogleIlan Ben Zion is an AFP reporter and a former news editor at The Times of Israel.
A new Picasso was discovered this month in Jerusalem, a likeness of former mayor Teddy Kollek doodled in an Israel Museum catalog by the iconic Spanish artist in 1969.
Kollek’s children nearly threw out the booklet when clearing out their mother’s home after she died earlier this year, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday.
The discovery came just a month before the 10th anniversary of the Jerusalem mayor’s death.
Kollek served six terms as mayor between 1965 and 1993, and was founder and president of the Israel Museum. He died on January 2, 2007.
“We stumbled across this incidentally among the many books about Jerusalem in our parents’ library, and it nearly got thrown into the garbage,” Osnat Kollek, the former mayor’s daughter, told the paper.
The sketch, in red and black pen — dated December 11, 1969, and signed by the artist — appeared on the back of the catalog to a 1965 Israel Museum exhibit of Picasso’s art, opposite a picture of the artist’s 1924 “Still-Life with a Mandolin.”
Kollek’s children donated the sketch to the Jerusalem Foundation, a non-profit organization devoted to developing cultural and social projects in the capital, in honor of its 50th anniversary.
Some of Picasso’s works are part of a permanent exhibit at the Israel Museum, along with pieces by artists such as Cezanne, Degas, Klee and Gauguin.
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The Times of Israel Community.