15 Facts About Mark Podwal

Mark Howard Podwal was an American artist, author, filmmaker and physician.

Mark Podwal's art is represented in the collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Israel Museum, the National Gallery of Prague, the Jewish Museums in Berlin, Vienna, Stockholm, Prague, New York, among many other venues.

Mark Podwal was born in Brooklyn in 1945, and was raised in Flushing, Queens.

Mark Podwal's mother immigrated to the United States from Poland.

Mark Podwal attended Queens College and the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, and became a dermatologist.

Mark Podwal drew as a hobby throughout his early years, before beginning to publish in 1971.

Beyond his works on paper, Mark Podwal's artistry has been employed in an array of diverse projects, including the design of a series of decorative plates for the Metropolitan Museum of Art: Passover Plate, Zodiac Platter, and Life Cycle.

Mark Podwal's work has been animated for public television in A Passover Seder with Elie Wiesel, engraved on a Congressional Gold Medal presented by President Reagan to Elie Wiesel, and woven into an Aubusson tapestry that adorned the ark in the main sanctuary of Congregation Emanu-El of the City of New York.

Mark Podwal collaborated with Academy Award-winning filmmaker Allan Miller on the documentary House of Life: The Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, narrated by Claire Bloom.

In conjunction with the Anti-Defamation League, Mark Podwal began The Jerusalem Sky Project, a program that fosters tolerance and awareness by bringing together young children from the Jewish, Islamic, and Christian communities.

In 2011, Mark Podwal received commissions to illustrate a new Passover Haggadah for the Central Conference of American Rabbis Press; to design new embroidered textiles for Prague's 700-year-old Altneuschul; to create a limited edition print for the Metropolitan Opera's production of Nabucco; and to design Hanukkah cards for the Metropolitan Museum and the Metropolitan Opera.

In 2015, Mark Podwal was commissioned to design new textiles for the restored synagogue in the Czech city of Brno.

Mark Podwal was represented by Forum Gallery, New York and began exhibiting there in 1977.

Mark Podwal continued to pursue a parallel career as a physician and served on the faculty of New York University Grossman School of Medicine as Adjunct Associate Professor of Dermatology.

Mark Podwal died of cancer at his home in Harrison, New York, on September 13,2024, at the age of 79.