TEL AVIV.- An original sketch by Kees Van Dongen of the pianist Felicja Blumental was discovered in the Felicja Blumental Music Center in Tel Aviv amongst the late pianist’s memorabilia.

While at a Beethoven festival featuring a solo performance of Felicja Blumental with the Pasdeloup Orchestra conducted by Heinreich Hollreiser at the Palais de Chaillot in Paris on the 27th of September 1959, Van Dongen, a close friend of the artist, sketched her portrait on the concert poster and presented it to her.

The Music Center was founded in 1951 by the Tel Aviv Municipality and the Israeli Ministry of Education by well-known Israeli musicians and musicologists. In 1996, the Municipality named the Center after Felicja Blumental.

Felicja Blumental (1908-1991) was a star pupil of Karol Szymanowski, and many works were dedicated to her by Villa Lobos, Penderecki and Lutoslawski.

The Felicja Blumental Music Center Association organizes some 300 concerts and musical events each year, which take place at the Music Center on 26 Bialik Street, Tel Aviv. In addition, the association organizes the Felicja Blumental International Music Festival and Guitar Week, both of which take place at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art each year in May.