Artist Phillip Ratner – Wash. D.C./Bethesda to Israel “New Directions” In Color
My close friend international Artist Phillip Ratner has spent his entire life teaching children and adults how to find the artist within ones self.
In early 1980’s I was director of his Israel Bible Museum located in Safed, Israel on the Metzuda hill top overlooking the town. The entire museum featured his sculptures and art work on the Tanach (Bible) . As a non-profit organization in the U.S. we provided free art classes for the local children. The museum also supported free open air concerts and the local boys basketball team.
Being the Director of the museum, I witnessed the great impression the art work had on visitors to the museum. Including many local/international clergy and politicians.
Presently Phillip Ratner has ventured into an area of expression that he has not previously engaged. In this video “In Color” we witness this awe inspiring expression that has culminated in his 80 plus years.
To view more of his vast works follow this link to the Ratner Museum in Bethesda Maryland. Enjoy!
Here are some of his works from the Bible.
Ratner has spent many years working in sculpture, painting, etched glass, tapestry, drawing, and the graphic arts. In 1984, Philtip Ratner opened The Israel Bible Museum in Safad, Israel. Since then, Ratner has spent most of his time there developing over 250 works of art on the Bible in sculpture, painting and graphics. This work continues. In addition, he has completed many private commissions and public works.
His work is included in the permanent collections of the Smithsonian, the United States Supreme Court, the Library of Congress, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island*. In 1984, Ratner took his life’s inspiration and dream, the Bible, and made it the focus of his impassioned work by founding the Israel Bible Museum in Beer Sheva, Israel.
With degrees from the Pratt Institute and American University, Ratner taught school in the Washington, D.C. area for 23 years, at the same time building his reputation as an international artist. Throughout this period, Phillip has actively supported various charities and organizations.
PERMANENT COLLECTIONS
- The Statue of Liberty, Liberty Island, New York
- Ellis Island Monument, Ellis Island, New York
- The United States Supreme Court, Washington, D.C.
- The Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
- Smithsonian Institution Museum Collections, Washington, D.C.
- National Zoological Park Panda Plaza, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D.C., Washington, D.C.
- National Zoological Park Visitor’s Center, Smithsonian Institution , Washington, D.C.
- The Folger Shakespeare Library, Washington, D.C.
- Immigration Lawyer’s Association, Washington, D.C.
- The Beer Sheva Ratner Bible Collection, Beer Sheva, Israel
- National Rehabilitation Hospital Sculpture Garden, Washington, D.C.
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C.
- Federal Bar Association, Washington, D.C.
- Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts
- University of Judaism, Los Angeles, California
- Hillel House, London, England
- Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey
- Spertas Museum, Chicago, Illinois
- Brandeis University, Boston, Massachusetts
- Boys Town, Jerusalem, Israel
- Israel Bible Museum, Safad, Israel
- West Point Chapel, New York
- The Vatican, Vatican City, Italy
EXHIBITIONS
- B’nai Brith International Museum, “Becoming Americans,” sculptures and drawings, Ems Island Sculpture Collection, National Traveling Exhibit of National Park Service sculptures and drawings, sponsored by The Presidential Commission and Allied Van Lines
- House and Senate Office Buildings, Rotundas, sculptures and lithographs from the Ellis Island Collection
- The White House, Lithograph commemorating Begin, Carter, Sadat meeting
- National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C., drawings, sculptures, stained glass, tapestries
- Klutznick Gallery B’nai Brith International Building, Washington, D.C., multi-media exhibition
- Hammer Gallery, Exhibition Artists, N.Y., sculptures and tapestry
- Smithsonian Institution, Anacostia Museum, Washington, D.C., sculptures and drawings
- The Barrister Magazine, (Chicago Ill.), covers
- Library of Congress, Art from the Bible: Durer, Ratner, and Rembrandt, Washington, D.C.
- The Federal Bar Association, Washington, D.C., Equal Justice Under Law, sculpture of “The Bench,”
- Federal Bar Assn. Building, Washington, D.C., paintings
- Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C., drawings and sculptures
- National Geographic Society, postcards of the Warren Bench sculpture
- Jacques O’Hana Galleries, Selected Paintings and Sculptures, London, England sculptures
- Welffleet Gallery, Massachusetts and Florida, sculptures
- West Point Chapel, New York, “The Ten Commandments”, ten carved glass windows
- Judean Memorial Garden, “Holocaust Memorial”, bas relief, bronze and marble
- Jewish Community Center of Northern Virginia, “Noah and The Ark”, lobby mural
- National Jewish Museum, Washington, D.C., “Becoming Americans” sculptures and drawings
- Ellis Island Monument, Ellis Island, New York, “The Immigrant Experience”, permanent installation, sculpture collection
- Montgomery General Hospital, Olney, Maryland, “The Healer”, sculpture
- Mt. Sinai Synagogue, Los Angeles, California, “The Bible”, sculptures and graphics
- National Capitol Children’s Museum, Washington, D.C., “The Adam Bright Room,” permanent installation of Ratner’s children’s art
- World Bank and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office Building, Washington, D.C., “Birds of the World’; eight banners, each eleven stories high by six feet wide, acrylic on linen
- Smithsonian Institution, National Zoological Park, Washington, D.C., “Panda” sculpture
- Selected Tour, Children’s Museums, ” The New Zoo,” story’, painting and sculpture
- The Ratner Museum, new permanent museum to house the Art of Phillip Ratner, Bethesda, Maryland
- U.S. State Department, Arts in Embassies Program, Washington, D.C.
- The Embassy of Israel, Twelve Paintings, Permanent Installation, Washington, D.C.
- Pope John Paul Center, Biblical Sculptures and Drawings, Washington, D.C.