Check out this HuffPo article featuring the works of Ruth Abrams, an artist that went from forgotten to remembered.
Check out this HuffPo article featuring the works of Ruth Abrams, an artist that went from forgotten to remembered.
MOTHER’S DAY IS SUNDAY! DON’T FORGET!
Images of a mother and child are some of the most familiar scenes in western art. Though often associated with Christian iconography, this image comes out of one of most universal human experiences: a mother holding her child.
Mother and Child, Isaac Soyer (1907-1981), New York Oil on canvas, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Gabriel Vogelson (1973.008)
Woman with brown hair holding infant wrapped in a blanket.
AND ON THAT MOTHER’S DAY…
Enjoy these images form YUM’s collection reminding us about Momma!
Jewish Mother
Boris Schatz (1867-1932)
Painting: Oil on board
Frame: copper repoussé, color
Jerusalem, ca. 1929
Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (1988.018)
Gift of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore.Boris Schatz (1867-1932)
Painting: Oil on board
Frame: copper repoussé, color
Jerusalem, ca. 1929
Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (1988.018)
Gift of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore.
Boris Schatz (1867-1932) was the founder of the first Jewish national art school, the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. Schatz went to Carlsbad in 1896 to meet Theodor Herzl, who made a deep impression on him. As Schatz journeyed through Europe on behalf of the Bulgarian art school, he met “yordim” who told him of the distress in the Yishuv. Schatz determined to found a new national art school in Palestine. After settling in Jerusalem in 1906, Schatz established the Bezalel School of Art. His goal was to foster a Jewish national style, and to provide painters, metalworkers, and other craftsmen with an excellent education. Schatz subsequently divided his efforts between painting, and fundraising for the school. Many of his paintings dealt with Jewish themes. They are executed in an academic style and, as in this work, are lyrically sentimental. His works are rooted in nineteenth century academic art, and bear no resemblance to the modern, simplified forms and bright colors of young artists working in Israel at this time, such as Reuven Rubin, who revolted against academicism and sought to create a native Israeli art in the Jewish homeland. In a 1929 pamphlet, historian and literary critic Prof. Dr. Joseph Klausner (1874-1958) described a group of 30 oil paintings by Schatz, including this work which he called A Grandmother. Schatz’s style, says Klausner, “forcefully appeals to our hearts.” These works “bear witness that the spirit of God… still illumines the depths of the Jewish soul even in the Diaspora… in spite of the persecution and the darkness of the Ghetto walls.” In contrast to the European realism of the paintings, the frame, typical of Bezalel metalwork, is executed in a more orientalizing style. It is decorated with popular Jewish motifs, including lions supporting the tablets, and the menorah. The Hebrew lettering is executed in a style developed at the Bezalel School, influenced by Islamic arabesque and European Art Nouveau. Like the painting, the style of the frame harks back to older artistic traditions. Schatz was strongly opposed to modern artistic approaches such as Cubism. The sale of works like these, at exhibitions held in various cities in Europe and America, helped support the Bezalel School. Schatz was in the United States in 1929, the year this work was created, and it is possible he brought it with him at that time.
Grandmother and Child
Boris Schatz (1867-1932)
Painting: Oil on board
Frame: copper repoussé, color
Jerusalem, ca. 1929
Collection of Yeshiva University Museum (1988.018)
Gift of the Jewish Community Center of Greater Baltimore.
