Irit Solomon

Irit Solomon was born in Tel Aviv in October 1939. Her parents, Leah Nudel and Shlomo Goldstein came to Israel as pioneers in 1933 with a group of students from the Polish Hashomer Hatzair Movement. Her father Shlomo was born in the town Ostralek (north- east of Warsaw). Her mother Leah was born in the town of Viskov (also north-east of Warsaw). After the outbreak of the Second World War the rest of her family was murdered in the extermination camps. Leah and Shlomo met in the training program of the Hashomer Hatzair in Poland. They married after making aliyah to Israel. At first they were sent to an immigrant camp in Karkur and afterwards they moved to Kibbutz Negba. After one year they left the kibbutz and moved to Tel–Aviv on 7 Nezach Yisrael Street. Leah worked as an au-pair for a little girl (Rama Avidar, the daughter of Yemima Tchernovitz-Avidar and Yosef). Shlomo worked in building in Tel Aviv. Irit, their daughter, was born in October 1939. After the bombing of Tel Aviv by the Italian air force on September 9, 1940, Shlomo and Leah moved to Givatayim, to a house that Shlomo built "with his own two hands." Irit began studying at the Socialist Elementary School, 'Borochov' and went to the activities of the Hashomer Hatzair Youth Movement. She completed her high School studies at the 'New High School' where she studied literature. She sang in the school choir. Upon completion of her studies she was drafted into the army and served in the office of the Chief of Staff in Tel Aviv. During her service, she sang in the Rinat Choir. When she was discharged she received her BA and MA in archeology, Hebrew literature, education and art history at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. In 1962 she married Ilan Salomon, a descendent of Moshe Yoel Salomon, who also was studying at the Hebrew University. In 1965 their daughter Naomi was born. In 1969 they were sent to Sweden as representatives of the Ministry of Tourism. After their return to Israel, Irit worked as a curator in the Israel Museum, Anna Ticho's House, in the Art Museum of Yad Veshem and in the Knesset. She curated over 40 exhibits for Yad Veshem including those with works that were done during the war, in the camps, ghettos and forests. Some of the works were acquired by miracle and depicted the difficult conditions of life during that period. The following is a partial list of the exhibits which she curated over the years: Knesset- Israeli Artists Present Social and Political Meaning; The Art of Ethiopian Olim; Nature and the Land. Israel Museum- An exhibit of the artist Felix Nussbaum who was killed in the Holocaust and whose pictures are displayed today in the Art Museum of Osnabruck, Germany, an exhibit for the 3000 year celebration of Jerusalem; and an exhibit of Jewish Art from the Musee de Cluny in Paris; which is considered the first collection of Judaica in the world and which had not yet been shown to the public. Anna Ticho House- (which belongs to the Israel Museum) Irit was the curator and director of the place for 25 years (1983-2006); exhibit of Anna Ticho's drawings; collection of Chanukah menorahs from the collection of Dr. Avraham Albert Ticho; an exhibit to mark the 100th anniversary of the visit of Emperor Wilhelm the Second in Jerusalem (1998); exhibit of the drawings of Elsa Lasker Schiller; exhibit of prints of Herman Shtrok; an exhibit of the works of the English artist Emily Gray-Hill; Drawings and photographs of Jerusalem from the 1900's. Read more