| David Polus | |
| Birth Date: | 1893 |
| Death Date: | January 5, 1975 |
| Nationality: | Israeli |
| Known For: | Sculpture |
| Notable Works: | Alexander Zaid, Israel Saba |
David ben Yisrael Moshe Polus (1893 – January 5, 1975) was an Israeli sculptor who wandered from town to town in the land of Israel, and resided wherever he sculpted.[1]
Polus grew up in Warsaw, the capital of Poland. According to Alkhani and Friedlander, in his youth in Warsaw, he was a diligent yeshiva student, deeply engaged in studying Talmudic pages. In the yeshiva, he used to decorate the hall in honor of completing a tractate of the Talmud, and from there, his inclination for sculpture emerged. He immigrated to the Land of Israel during the Fourth Aliya on the ship "Romania" as a pioneer in August 1924. In a poem he wrote in Yiddish in the 1920s, he stated, among other things: "A pioneer arose and ascended... Talent is your property."[2] [3]
Polus was a member of the Labor Battalion and the excavation group of Yitzhak Sadeh. His first sculpture in the Land of Israel was unveiled while he was in the Labor Battalion in Migdal Tzedek: a bust of Aharon David Gordon. In February 1932, Paulus sent a proposal, published in the newspaper "Davar," to the management of the "Yerid Hamizrach" exhibition. According to the proposal, a sculpture competition would be announced, and the best works would be displayed in the exhibition, providing an incentive for artistic creation.[4] Polus used to wander throughout the country. He lived in various kibbutzim and sculpted in them in exchange for a livelihood only, without additional pay. This was the case in Ramat David, Tel Yosef, Beit Oren, and Ramat Rachel. According to a document in the state archives dated September 22, 1936, Polus, registered as a teacher, resided on Herzl Street in Tel Aviv (then the Mahlul neighborhood), near the Delphinar-Yochananoff Silk Weaving and Dyeing Factory. He had a shack where he used to isolate himself and plan new works. Later on, he moved to Jerusalem and lived in the last twenty years of his life in another shack, in the heart of the Jerusalem Forest near the Ein Kerem neighborhood.In 1940 he sculpted the Alexander Zaid memorial near Beit Shearim.[5]
Polus passed away, unmarried and childless in Jerusalem in 1975.
Several of his works were of the realist style. Among these there are visual motifs depicting the rise of the Jewish people in their land. Polus used locally available, relatively simple and inexpensive materials such as concrete, plaster on lattice, and iron rods. This led to increased decay in his sculptures, requiring constant maintenance. During his time, Polus reinforced them himself. Over the years, some have been renovated, while others have withstood the test of time.[4]