Zevi Blum

Blum, Zevi

Zevi Blum, artist and educator, died in San Francisco Friday, Feb. 25, 2011, of pancreatic cancer. He was 77.

An alumnus, professor emeritus and former chair of the Department of Fine Arts at Cornell University, Mr. Blum lived in the Ithaca area for more than 30 years before retiring to Stockton, Calif., in 2003. He had also taught at Ithaca College.

He is acclaimed for his whimsical and satirical etchings, notable both for their beauty and for their imaginative and sharp commentary on cultural mores and means. Based most often on mythical, historical or biblical characters and stories, they offer a fantastic, often bizarrely humorous, vision of human inventiveness gone slightly and madly awry.

Moses Zevi Blum was born in Paris in 1933 of American parents, and was raised on a farm in Lakewood, N.J. where he began drawing and painting as a child. He graduated in 1957 from the Cornell University Architecture Program-considered a better profession for a young man than art at that time-and worked for several years as an architect in New York City before devoting himself to art fulltime in the 1960s. His drawings appeared in The New York Times Op-Ed and Book Review sections, and in other publications such as Harpers. In 1971, he moved with his family to the Ithaca area, and began producing the etchings that would remain his life's work.

He began teaching art soon afterward, and he has been described as both "a jester and a genius." As a mentor, art instructor and then professor, he was beloved by his students both for his wit and humor, and for his kindness and support. "I made a point of always being encouraging, though hopefully never being false," he said. "My attitude was-If you're dumb enough to want to be an artist, I will support you in this passion, as passion is our only real currency."

Mr Blum has had numerous exhibitions in venues from New York and Boston to London, Florence and San Juan, Puerto Rico, His work is represented in collections that range from The Louvre, The Vatican and Windsor Castle to the Johnson Art Museum (Ithaca, NY), and in many private collections including that of the British Royal Family, for whom he designed a Steuben Glass bowl that was presented as an official gift of the United States. His work can also be seen in several books, including a retrospective of his work, "Zevi Blum; Etchings."

His later years were prolific: After retiring to Stockton, he was able for the first time to work full time on his art, and was working on a new etching days before his death. In one of his statements about the role of art in his life and in culture, he wrote: "A child...knows magic when he sees it; thus he begins to draw. This sense of magic has sustained me throughout my life. We have never forsaken each other."

Mr. Blum's work and more about his life can be seen at www.zeviblum.com; on the website of the Pucker Gallery, which represents his work at www.puckergallery.com/blum.html; and in a book of his recent work at www.blurb.com/books/1143092

He is survived by his wife, Barbara Blum, and her family; a daughter, Alexandra Blum of San Francisco, and two sons, Willilam Blum and Jonathon Blum of San Francisco; and two grand children, Jarred Blum-Robbins and Cecile Blum-Robles.

Funeral services were held Tuesday, March 1, 2011 at Temple Israel in Stockton, and he was buried in the Temple Israel cemetery. A memorial service will be held in Ithaca at a time to be announced.