Work Of Founder Of Bezalel School, Son And Daughter On Exhibit At Arsuna Galleries
The late Boris Schatz, whose work, together with that of his son and daughter, Bezalel Schatz and Zahara Schatz, is being exhibited this week and next at the Arsuna Galleries, developed the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts of Jerusalem from an institution of eleven students to an academy of worldwide recognition, drawing scholars and young artists from many countries, races and creeds. He was an outstanding pioneer in creating a national Jewish consciousness in art.
A native of Russia, he studied scripture in Paris, his last teacher there being Falguiere. From Paris he went to Bulgaria, where he soon became the court sculptor. A medalist of the Paris and Brussels salons, he came to America for the first time in 1905 to arrange the Bulgarian art section at the St. Louis exposition, which received a high award.
In 1906 he went to Jerusalem to give expression to the idea of a school to foster a national Jewish art. A feature of the school is that the students receive not only instruction but also support. All the art work is developed from purely Hebraic motives. The name of the institution, Bezalel, is that of an ancient Hebrew craftsman.
In the present exhibition of Boris Schatz’ work are included reliefs in hammered brass and bronze, delicate ivory portrait reliefs, and oil paintings. The frames of pictures and reliefs should be included, as they are worked out with Hebrew symbolic figures, and are as much works of art as the paintings themselves.
Concerning his work, Ludwig Lewisohn has said, “He was, what is so rare in this age, a great craftsman rooted in a tradition; and it is only from a deeply rooted tradition that powerful art can spring. In his handling of many media with singleness and wholeness of intention there is a candor and strength and singleness of purpose that recall the greater men of greater ages who with something clawlike and leonine subdued to their purpose—their harmonious and characteristic purpose—paint and marble and bronze and brass.״
The oils and watercolors of Bezalel Schatz show, some of them, an impressionistic influence from first contacts with Paris, where he worked for three years. Others incline to a use of form to convey expression. Color becomes an increasingly important factor in his development. The most recent paintings show the freest use of color, in harmonies like those of modern music, strong and resonant like the sound of gongs reverberating with many overtones.
The watercolors of Zahara Schatz are executed with a light touch, using the medium sparingly but fluently to barely describe the essential nature of things. One entitled “The Bicycle Races” conveys an unusual sense of space and activity.
One very interesting item of the exhibition is an ark, resembling a cabinet with double doors and flight of steps leading up to it. This is constructed of a variety of materials, and is the result of collaboration among all the departments of the Bezalel school, over a period of 10 years. The major part of it is brass, hammered in intricate symbolic designs, and in the metal are inlaid ivory carvings, jewels, marble columns, enamels, and a stone native to Palestine.
Work Of Founder Of Bezalel School, Son And Daughter On Exhibit At Arsuna Galleries
The late Boris Schatz, whose work, together with that of his son and daughter, Bezalel Schatz and Zahara Schatz, is being exhibited this week and next at the Arsuna Galleries, developed the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts of Jerusalem from an institution of eleven students to an academy of worldwide recognition, drawing scholars and young artists from many countries, races and creeds. He was an outstanding pioneer in creating a national Jewish consciousness in art.
A native of Russia, he studied scripture in Paris, his last teacher there being Falguiere. From Paris he went to Bulgaria, where he soon became the court sculptor. A medalist of the Paris and Brussels salons, he came to America for the first time in 1905 to arrange the Bulgarian art section at the St. Louis exposition, which received a high award.
In 1906 he went to Jerusalem to give expression to the idea of a school to foster a national Jewish art. A feature of the school is that the students receive not only instruction but also support. All the art work is developed from purely Hebraic motives. The name of the institution, Bezalel, is that of an ancient Hebrew craftsman.
In the present exhibition of Boris Schatz’ work are included reliefs in hammered brass and bronze, delicate ivory portrait reliefs, and oil paintings. The frames of pictures and reliefs should be included, as they are worked out with Hebrew symbolic figures, and are as much works of art as the paintings themselves.
Concerning his work, Ludwig Lewisohn has said, “He was, what is so rare in this age, a great craftsman rooted in a tradition; and it is only from a deeply rooted tradition that powerful art can spring. In his handling of many media with singleness and wholeness of intention there is a candor and strength and singleness of purpose that recall the greater men of greater ages who with something clawlike and leonine subdued to their purpose—their harmonious and characteristic purpose—paint and marble and bronze and brass.״
The oils and watercolors of Bezalel Schatz show, some of them, an impressionistic influence from first contacts with Paris, where he worked for three years. Others incline to a use of form to convey expression. Color becomes an increasingly important factor in his development. The most recent paintings show the freest use of color, in harmonies like those of modern music, strong and resonant like the sound of gongs reverberating with many overtones.
The watercolors of Zahara Schatz are executed with a light touch, using the medium sparingly but fluently to barely describe the essential nature of things. One entitled “The Bicycle Races” conveys an unusual sense of space and activity.
One very interesting item of the exhibition is an ark, resembling a cabinet with double doors and flight of steps leading up to it. This is constructed of a variety of materials, and is the result of collaboration among all the departments of the Bezalel school, over a period of 10 years. The major part of it is brass, hammered in intricate symbolic designs, and in the metal are inlaid ivory carvings, jewels, marble columns, enamels, and a stone native to Palestine.