By Yair Shulevitz (April 13, 2025)

My sister is an avid collector and purchased a work by Tumarkin when she was only 23 years old. A very young woman chooses to spend her money on art. Her art collection is characterized by unconventional choices, because she is true to herself and only buys what she loves.

For example, after returning from a long trip to Europe and the United States, she fell in love with the works of the painter Ludwig Schwerin. Schwerin drew with grace, immigrated to Israel from Germany in 1939 and created expressive, powerful woodcuts, including those of Thomas Mann and Stefan Zweig, as well as illustrations for books and plays. In Israel, he focused on drawing landscapes and animals, mostly in black and white ink. My sister purchased many of his works and formed a special bond with him that lasted until his death. In the exhibition held in his memory at the Tel Aviv Museum, which was the result of my sister's initiative, most of the works were borrowed from her collection.

As a rule, her purchases from artists were always accompanied by a close relationship with them. She was very close to Ossiach Hofstadter and his wife Anna and had fascinating conversations with him. Artists wanted to paint her, but she refused.

Redhead, stormy, emotional, loves to sing and play, full of passion for life with the innocence and laughter of a little girl. An artist at heart - beauty and aesthetics are an integral part of her life.

My sister speaks of her life in several voices that create a fascinating mix that contains many conflicts. In the 1970s and 1980s, she took a lot of photographs, especially during her stay in the United States. Her photographs show a sharp eye with a sensitivity to composition. In the 1990s, her faith grew stronger and she began to be more careful about maintaining a religious lifestyle according to its rules. This was a conflict between conservative religion and art, which was based on the undermining of the existing, and between the prohibitions and limitations that the law imposed and her turbulent temperament, full of passion. She managed to jump between them without giving up on either of them.

My sister is a very complex and multifaceted woman. Her life was not always easy, but her lust for life was always great and caused her to rise from crises and recover like a phoenix. Her miraculous recovery from a life-threatening operation and her noble coping with her serious illness gave deep meaning even to her moments of suffering.

Yair Shulevitz

* The translation brings the spirit of things.