Pearl Amsel was a dedicated and prolific sculptor. She was born in Czechoslovakia and survived the Nazi concentration camps. She studied art and sculpture under the guidance of world famous masters and earned her B.A Cum Laude and M.F.A with honors from Brooklyn College. She was awarded the Brooklyn College Sculpture Award for outstanding achievements.

Pearl's inspiration derives from mythological, ancient biblical and contemporary themes and her avant-garde art reflects her deep devotion to humanity. She had several shows in New York, San Francisco and Tel Aviv and her works are permanently displayed in museums, cultural centers and prominent private collections throughout the world.

Pearl believed in creating objects d'art to turn this world into a more beautiful place than she found it. Her delicate artworks testify that she achieved this goal.

GOLEM SCULPTURE BY PEARL AMSEL
The Golem is the main figure of Prague's Jewish legends, according to which it was created in the late 16th century by the renowned Rabbi Judah Loew ben Bezalel, known as the Maharal, to protect the Jews of Prague. It has remained a source of fascination and inspiration to this day. In 1985-87, the Czech-born American sculptor Pearl Amsel created a bronze sculpture of the Golem, 244cm in height and weighing 480 kg.

Her monumental Golem is the embodiment both of an ancient myth and of recent experience, for it is intended to commemorate the bygone protector of Jews and, at the same time, is dedicated to the memory of the victims of Auschwitz, where Pearl Amsel was sent during the war. Although the sculpture is mostly abstract in form, it effectively conveys the heaviness of the material and the extraordinary strength of a being that resists and tries to free itself from it. The bulky stalking figure of the Golem (which could be female or male), stooping with a child in its arms is clearly identifiable.

This sculpture was dedicated to the Jewish Museum by Dr. Harold Amsel from New York in memory of his mother. It is now sited in the inner courtyard of the Museum complex near the facade of the Spanish Synagogue.