Paul Kor facts for kids
Paul Kor (born Kornowski, August 1, 1926 – May 24, 2001) was a talented Israeli painter, graphic designer, and a beloved children's author and illustrator. He won many awards in Israel and around the world for his amazing work.
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Paul Kor's Life Story
Paul Kornowski was born in Paris, France. His family was Jewish, and they had moved there from Poland. During a very sad time called the Holocaust, his father was killed. Young Paul and his brother were secretly taken to Geneva, Switzerland, where they lived in a Jewish orphanage until the war ended.
While in Switzerland, Paul studied art and graphic design at the École des Beaux-Arts in Geneva. Later, he continued his studies in Paris. When the 1948 Arab-Israeli war began, he moved to Israel and joined the army as a volunteer. He met his wife, Pnina Tovbin, while in the army, and they stayed in Israel. Paul kept his family name Kornowski, but he signed his artworks as "Kor."
Paul Kor passed away in 2001 at the age of 75. He was buried in Tel Aviv. In 2008, a street in Tel Aviv was named after him, honoring his contributions to the city where he lived and worked for most of his life.
Paul Kor's Art Career
Paul Kor was a very active artist. In 1966, he won a special award called the "Golden Siren" for a poster he designed to encourage tourism in Milan, Italy.
He worked for many years as an illustrator and graphic designer. He even designed some of the banknotes (paper money) and stamps for the State of Israel. He also created booklets and posters in Israel and France. In 1968, his unique book Tête-à-Queue, which had no words but told a story through pictures, won the "Beautiful Book" prize in France. It was even shown at the Museum of Modern Art in Paris!
In the early 1970s, Paul Kor designed the last series of the Israeli lira banknotes. These designs were later used for the first series of the Israeli new shekel banknotes. The money he designed featured important historical figures like Henrietta Szold, Montefiore, Chaim Weizmann, and Herzl.
Paul Kor always tried to combine two different worlds in his art: the real world and the world of dreams. His paintings were shown in many cities, including Paris, Oslo, Norway, and London. In Israel, his art was displayed at places like Gallery Rosenfeld, Yad Vashem, and the Petach Tikvah Museum of Art.
Two of his special prints, called monotypes, from 1995 are part of the collection at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
Paul Kor's Children's Books
In 1974, Paul Kor started focusing on painting and illustrating books for children. By the 1980s, he became one of the most popular and loved children's authors in Israel.
In 1986, he published The Fish that Didn't Want to be a Fish. Later, he wrote and illustrated The Hawk's Story. His most famous book is Caspion the Little Fish. This book introduced a small silver fish that became the character most people connected with Paul Kor.
Paul Kor once shared how he got the idea for Caspion: "An open box of cigarettes was on my studio table, and a sunbeam fell on the silver paper, making it sparkle. In a flash, the idea came to me to write a book about a silver fish."
Caspion won an illustration prize from the Israel Museum. It became so popular that it turned into a series of three books: Caspion in Danger and Caspion's Great Journey.
Paul Kor also published other successful children's books, including The Magic Zoo, which won an award from the Tel Aviv Municipality. Many more popular stories followed, such as Ben-Ben and the Fledgling, The Elephant who Wanted to be the Best, The Sultan who Wanted to Fly, and The Boy who Loved the Moon. Some of his books were even made into DVDs and children's plays that are still enjoyed today!
Remembering Paul Kor
After Paul Kor passed away, his family created two animated films based on his books: The Elephant who Wanted to be the Best and Caspion.
In 2005, a drawing book filled with his childhood drawings was discovered in a basement in Paris. It showed his artistic talent from a very young age.
In 2014, the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) displayed a poster Paul Kor designed in 1973 for the 25th anniversary of the State of Israel.
Images for kids
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