David “Tarta” Tartakover, one of Israel’s most influential designers and winner of the Israel Prize for Design in 2002, died on Tuesday at the age of 81.
President Isaac Herzog paid tribute: “David Tartakover didn’t just contribute to Israeli culture and society—he created and shaped them. He made them what they are. It’s hard to imagine Israeli identity without what Tartakover poured into it. Even those who disagreed with his sharp views knew he was deeply connected to our beloved country. He received global recognition and many awards, including the Israel Prize. His death leaves a deep void in Israeli design and saddens us greatly.”
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai also mourned his passing. “David Tartakover was the greatest of Israel’s designers. A groundbreaking and subversive artist, a brave man unafraid to challenge power. He loved Tel Aviv-Jaffa—his last book featured delicate sketches of the city’s streets—and the city loved him back,” Huldai said
Born in Haifa in 1944, Tartakover moved with his family to Jerusalem at age six and served in the IDF Paratroopers Brigade. He studied at the Bezalel Academy and completed his training at the London College of Printing. Upon returning to Israel in 1968, he was among the founders of Israel’s television broadcasting service.
Alongside his artistic work, Tartakover played a central role in training generations of designers. From 1976 to 2000, he was a senior lecturer in visual communication at Bezalel and also taught design history. In recent years, he battled Parkinson’s disease.
As a curator, he presented a scholarly perspective on Israeli visual culture, organizing exhibitions such as Herzl in Profile (1978), Franz Kraus – Posters (1981), and Eye to Zion (1994), among others.
From the mid-1970s, Tartakover created a wide range of works central to Israeli visual culture, including posters, logos, packaging, and book and album covers. His 1978 Independence Day poster "Shalom" is considered a masterpiece, and his Peace Now logo is regarded as Israel’s first political bumper sticker.
He held over 20 solo exhibitions in Israel and abroad, and participated in more than 80 group exhibitions and major international biennales. Just Monday, a design library named in his honor was inaugurated at the Tel Aviv Public Library’s design wing.
Tartakover won many awards, including the Israel Prize in 2002. The prize committee cited him for “creating his works from the visual experience and heritage of pre- and post-state Israel, combining imagery with a clear local character, and influencing young designers through his teaching and research.”
His works are held in major collections worldwide, including MoMA and the Jewish Museum in New York, the Library of Congress, the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam, and museums in Paris, Zurich, and Hamburg.
The Peace Now movement said in a statement that “The man who created the ‘Peace Now’ logo has left us. Tartakover was a rare combination of immense talent and ideology—an icon of peace, human rights and justice. An artist driven by values. For him, everything was political, and values were the force behind his art. Thank you for the courage. Rest in peace.”
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The Tel Aviv Museum of Art expressed sorrow at the artist's death. “We part in deep pain from David Tartakover, ‘Tarta,’ one of Israel’s leading graphic designers, an artist, collector and chronicler of local visual culture who forged a new syntax between image and typography. Tartakover, a senior lecturer at the Bezalel Academy and recipient of the Israel Prize, masterfully compiled and designed visual reflections of Israeli reality, offering a critical lens on national myths, propaganda, and memory. He turned the poster into a powerful and poetic visual tool,” the musem said in a statement.
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If You Will, This Is Not a Legend, Theodor Herzl (1860-1904), 2011 Print Collection of David and Eli Tartakover at the Israel Museum
(Photo: Eli Posner)
Tartakover was a member of the Israel Association of Graphic Designers and the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI). He was also a major collector of Israeli visual culture, with a personal archive of thousands of posters, children's games, packaging designs, and more.
Last year, he was awarded Tel Aviv-Jaffa’s Lifetime Achievement Award. “More than anything, David Tartakover was a Tel Avivian in spirit, and his visual creations have accompanied us all—on the city’s streets, cultural institutions, and public walls,” read the award citation. “He dedicated his life to human rights, peace, and social justice. Tel Aviv-Jaffa gave him the freedom to be provocative and political while grounding him in values that held up a mirror to Israeli society.”
He is survived by his daughter Eli and grandson Michael.