Devi Tuszynski z"l

I INFORM YOU WITH GREAT SORROW THAT DEVI TUSHINSKI DIED IN PARIS FRANCE, ON DECEMBER 15th 2002

ALL PLOCKERS WORLDWIDE PARTICIPATE IN MOURNING HIM.
HIS SPECIAL PERSONALITY, HIS UNIQUE EXPRESSION OF ART,
HIS DEDICATION TO THE MEMORY OF THE HOLOCAUST AND HIS RICH HERITAGE WILL DWELL FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS.
Tel Aviv December 16th 2002

[ Sign Condolences Book] - [Read Condolences Book ]

To Moniek my Brother

20 years I create the Psalms.
My days were black, but I escaped the flood.
Roman, Felix and Tola came out of the fire
with burned and numbered wings.
They looked at the black smoke of our little brother Moniek...
The blessed Tzadik, the young son of our family
who was murdered by gas in Auschwitz.
Black remained the color of my pen, of my brush.
I wished to give him a place among the living, among the color of life,
the color of the rainbow,
that has never been looked at and its air was never breathed again.
I dedicated to him my miniatures, the Psalms of King David.
I wish that the music of my drawings would revive his memory.
I wish that the leaves of papers would be the tombstone of his unknown grave.
And a visible memorial to the memory of human beings.
And a symbol to this blindness - stricken period, that has been ours.
And which will never be again.
Never, until the end of times...

Devi Tuszynski
Translated to English by Ada Holtzman

Depuit vingt and, je crée les Psaumes.
Mon époque a été noire, mais je suis sorti du déluge.
Roman, Félix et Tola sont sortis de la flamme, avec des ailes
brulées et numérotées.
Ils one regardé la fumée noire de notre petit frere martyr Moniek
Le benjamin gazé a' Auschwitz.
Le noir est resté sur ma plume, sur mon pinceau.
Je voulais lui donner un habit aux couleurs de la vie,
de l'arc-en-ciel jamais regardé, ni senti, ni respiré...
A lui j'ai dédié en micrographie les psaumes du Roi David.
Que la musique de mes lignes berce sa mémoire.
Que les feuilles du papier: soient sa pierre tombale.
Un signe tangible pour la mémoire humaine.
Un symbole d'une époque aveugle, qui a été la nôtre
Et qui jamais ne se répètera.
Dans les siècles des siècles...

Devi Tuszynski

 

Od dwudziestu lat tworze Psalmy. Moja epoka byla czarna,
ale ja wyszedlem z potopu.
Roman, Felix i Tola wzniesli sie nad ogniem i odfruneli na
skrzydlach spalonych i ponumerowanych.

Patrzyli na czarny dym unoszacy sie nad naszym malym
bratem Monkiem zagazowanym w Oszwiecimiu. Czarny kolor
pozostal w moim piorze i w pedzlu.
Chcialem ubrach go w kolory zycia, w tecza, na ktora nie
zdazyl sie napatrzec' ktorej nie zdazyl sie nawdychac.

To jemu zadedykowalem "Psalmy Krola Dawida" w mikrografii.
Niech muzyka mojej kreski kolysze jego pamiec. Niech
kartki papieru beda jego kamieniem nagrobnym, trwalym
znakiem na pamiatke ludzkosci, symbolem slepej epoki, ktora
byla nasza epoka.
I ktora nie powtorzy sie juz nigdy.
Na wieki wiekow...

Devi Tuszynski

 

Devi Tuszynski, Master of Miniatures

 Miniature by Devi Tuszynski 

Devi Tuszynski:

JE VOUS CHANTE
Parce que je ne peux jamais rire de tout mon coeur
Je dessine des chose gaies
Parce que l'on a supprime ma joie
Je dessine le soleil
Parce que j'ai entendu tant de cris
Je joue du violon pour les couvrir
Parce que ma maison est detruite
Je construis des palais et des chateaux,
Parce que je ne verrai plus ma mere, mon pere,
Mon frere brule vivant,
Je raconte les ballades de la feuille, des fleurs,
Des arbres jamais vus, jamais touches, jamais sentis
Parce qu'on a tranche un morceau de ma vie
Je la chante en cantiques, en oiseaux, en etoiles
En noir, avec les larmes de ma nuit
Avec la lune de mon coeur
Avec l'aube de mon cri
Je vous chante.

 

I AM SINGING TO YOU

By Devi Tuszynski Translated by Daniel Wagner, April 1999.

I am singing to you
Because I can never laugh with all my heart
I am drawing joyful things
Because they suppressed my happiness
I am drawing the sun
Because I heard so many screams
I am playing the violin to cover them
Because my house is destroyed
I am building palaces and castles
Because I will see no more my mother, my father
My brother burned alive
I am telling the ballads of the leaf, of the flowers
Of the trees never seen, never touched, never felt
Because a piece of my life was cut
I am singing it in songs, in birds, in stars
In dark, with the tears of my night
With the moon of my heart
With the dawn of my scream
I am singing to you.

DAVID TUSHINSKY -
MASTER OF MINIATURES

by Eliahu Eisenberg - from Plock Yizkor book, page 67 (English part) 1967

Devi Tuszynski, the miniaturist, is faithful to the tradition of Jewish religious ornamental art. His grandfather was engaged in writing the letters of Tora Scrolls. David was influenced in his art by three factors: the loss of his family and his desire to perpetuate their sufferings, his inability to strike roots in Israel's art world, his desire to become a member of the Jewish-French artistic school.

When only one year, his parents moved from Brzezany (near Lodz) to Plotzk, where he lived for 20 years, until the outbreak of war. The romantic scenes of the town inspired him just as they influenced other Plotzk artists, such as Korzen, Zylberberg and Eliowicz.

He studied in Lodz, was recruited into the Polish army and soon after the defeat of 1939 moved eastwards. Eventually lie got to Israel, but here he felt that his special brand of art would not be appreciated. For several years he worked for a living, unable to further his artwork.

Then he moved to Paris, where, due to his natural ability to make friends and his desire to make his work known, he has succeeded in his career.

Two exhibitions of his work took place in Paris in 1948 and he was awarded an international art prize.

He maintains his relations with Israel and comes here from time to time, both to exhibit his work (Haifa, Eilat, Petakh Tiqva and other places) and to find new subjects for his art.

His drawings are greatly influenced by three factors: The Holocaust, Jewish national rebirth and Europe's culture. One of his critics said that Tushinski's art is "a mirror of his epoch".

Devi Tuszynski Gallery

Devi Tuszynski: the Synagogue of Gombin

Last creation of art by Devi Tuszynski:

"Ksiega Psalmow" (The psalms)
(C) Copy Right
Muzeum Mazowieckie w Plocku
Plock, 1999

ISBN 83-909674-5-6


Exhibition held in
Plock, Poland, summer 1999
Paris, France, February - July 2000
Wilhelm - Glassing, Germany, May - June 2000

Return to Plock Jewish Artists  Page

Last Updated April 11th, 2004