Newspaper Comments - 20th Anniversary Exhibit
The Bezalel School in Jerusalem is an important factor for the economic development of Palestine, by enabling hundreds of young Jewish artists to gain a livelihood in wood carving, rug making, weaving, painting, sculpture, brass, silver and copper work. The products of the school are becoming internationally known.
“This is not merely an art activity,” Mr. James N. Rosenberg stated. “There is nothing more important than to aid the Jewish youth, whether in Russia, in Palestine or elsewhere, to become productive men and women, whether on the farm or in handicrafts or in other useful occupations. Therefore, the Bezalel school in Palestine serves not only an important purpose in art, but in economic life. The modest start which we have made toward the creation of a museum will in time to come, I hope, prove to be to Palestine what the Louvre is to France. In the last half century there has been a great birth of art among Jews. Among the great painters and sculptors of the entire world are many Jews. In Russia, Poland, France, Italy, England, America, Holland, Germany, Palestine, in all quarters we see this awakening, and it is to be hoped that in the course of time an adequate museum in Palestine will, in a worthy manner house the works of Jewish artists the world over. We are now to make a beginning.
“Daily Jewish Bulletin, N. Y.”
The Bezalel school is a co-operative community of artists and artisans. In his vision of a Palestine school for Jewish artists, Professor Schatz dreamed of a place where man would cease to be a slave to the modern machine, who works monotonously at one task, utterly deprived of the joy of creation, who usually does not even see the finished product of his labors. In the Bezalel school the artisan can once more plan and think about his work, and give to it the beauty of individuality. The artist, even more, is able to live a freer life, close to the beauties of nature.
“The Philadelphia Jewish Times.”
Professor Boris Schatz! A well built, young old man, bubbling over with the joy of his work, his kindly eyes kindled with delight at his new plans—that is Professor Boris Schatz, the famous Jewish sculptor and head of the Bezalel Arts and Crafts School, who recently came to this country. One might have expected that the many years that have spun their course since first Boris Schatz began his artistic activity, and chastened his ardor and burdened him with the pessimism of advancing years and the slowness of fruition. Some men, however, have the gift of conquering even over the deadening weight of years. Boris Schatz is one of them. He has been a sculptor since back in the “eighties”; he has been a painter, and for the past twenty years he has been the guiding spirit of the Bezalel Art School at Jerusalem. And today he is still youthfully enthusiastic. He still bubbles over with the story of the school, and tells of plans for enlarging it. A marvelous young old man, and only after you have met him and spoken to him do you realize why his efforts have attracted the hearts and eyes of numerous Jews in the Diaspora as well as in Palestine, and why he has carried through to success an ideal׳ which many at the time of its conception deemed a wild, although highly praiseworthy, dream.
SIDNEY WALLACH,
In “The Jewish Tribune.”
Now comes Professor Boris Shatz, the indefatigable veteran of Jewish artistic endeavor, the dreamer and doer, bringing with him the Bezalel exhibition of Palestine Arts and Crafts. And this exhibition has many phases of interest and value. The whole Bezalel art and crafts school is an inspiring monument to the courage, hardihood, faith and personality of Boris Shatz. Then again it will show us distinctly and forcibly how the soul of a people expresses itself through the plastic and graphic arts and applied arts, when consciously directed to that end. Moreover it will show us in a picturesque and memorable way how the outlook and soul of the Jewish people has been transformed by the much discussed renaissance of our own time. It will show us how the atmosphere of Palestine affects some of the most sensitive and intellectually and emotionally alert members of our people. It will show us how the sophistication, resulting from two thousand years of exile, fused with the noble, mountain-moving faith and simplicity of the ancient Hebrew, gives expression of itself through painting, sculpture and the allied arts.
Editorial, “Chicago Chronicle.”
When Boris Schatz went to cheder, the Biblical story of Bezalel made a very great impression on him. Through all the years of his successful European art career as court painter to King Ferdinand of Bulgaria and in many other positions, he did not forget the story of Bezalel, to him it remained one of the brightest spots in the tradition of his people. He dreamed of another Ark, an art school in Palestine where Jews living in a Jewish land could produce real Jewish art.
The Chicago “Jewish Child.”
Leading artists of America are participating in the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, by presenting to the school museum examples of their work. Art collectors are also contributing valuable paintings from their private collections. . . . The committee in charge of the exhibition is headed by Nathan Straus as honorary chairman, James N. Rosenberg, chairman; Charles A. Cowan, secretary, and Louis Topkis, treasurer. Among the members of the committee are Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Louis Lipsky, George S. Hellman, Bernar Gussow, Leo Meltziner and many other distinguished Jews, men of affairs, artists and art lovers.
“Jewish Daily Bulletin,” N. Y.
The name of Boris Schatz is significant and will remain meaningful to the future historian of contemporary Jewish life and contemporary Jewish art. He is a pioneer and a builder, and all the works that are ever turned out by the Bezalel school and by the students of Bezalel school will in a measure be a monument to the memory of him.
J. Z. JACOBSON,
In “The Chicago Evening Post.”
The vision of Professor Schatz is: A Jewish art center in Jerusalem that will be at once a school, a bazaar and a museum. A mercaz Bezalel where east and west will meet in mingled beauty and utility. A building, soft hued with long galleries, sunny studios and stalls filled with the work of Hebrew artists and craftsmen. Palestinians and visitors from the ends of the earth, lingering in the museum and thronging the bazaar, where their eager purchases will make it possible to train more and more of the gifted youth of the Jewish homeland.
MARION WEINSTEIN, In “The Day.”
A rebuilt Palestine will also mean that Jewish authors will write great books in Hebrew, that Jewish artists will paint great pictures, taking their inspiration from the Jewish life in Palestine.
The Chicago “Jewish Child.”
Each piece in the exhibit is of Jewish in its inspiration. Each piece celebrates the triumphant revival of the art of the artisan. Everything in the exhibit has been fashioned by hands, reflecting the Hebraic Palestine spirit, in which Biblical beauty and Oriental imagination are combined.
“The Jewish World,” Philadelphia, Pa.
Much of the lofty and patient spirit of the medieval artists and artisans has animated Professor Schatz in his great undertaking. Machine-made art is anathema to him; the hand alone must fashion beauty, and under his guidance in far off Palestine he has given a generous outlet to the creative spirit of the Jew. From the school there will doubtless come successors to such as Ezekiel, Epstein, Pissaro, Antokolski, Israels, Lieberman and Mosler, though probably the artists of reanimated and rejuvenated Palestine will disclose in their work many more national traits and characteristics. At least one may be permitted to hope...
It is the fine spirit which so evidently went into the fashioning of all these things. It is plain, too, when one examines much of the work in detail that the old religious restrictions embodied chiefly in the “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, etc.,” are not operative in this school, for man and nature both figure largely in many of the compositions.
C. H. BONTE, In “Philadelphia Inquirer.”
There is something brave as well as beautiful in the rich results Bezalel has achieved in two decades. What a satisfaction to see genuine Jewish art created under the greatest handicaps in a short time by the so-called “race of trades”! And who can meet Professor Schatz, the moving spirit of the school, without finding himself somehow gripped by the feeling that this gentle but dauntless benefactor of the new Palestine must not be disappointed at any cost....
The school has entered into the very life of Palestine by its contributions to the country’s industrial as well as its aesthetic needs. It has educated eight hundred craftsmen, workers which the country could not afford to bring from abroad....
I had the privilege of visiting Bezalel several years ago. Professor Schatz showed me the school’s museum which has since grown from six to fourteen rooms. There were antiques found in Palestine and paintings by modern Jewish artists in the Diaspora, a Joseph Israels, a Solomon Solomons and a Max Lieberman. The Professor had hidden all these treasures from the Turks during the war in the cistern of the school’s cellar.
MARION WEINSTEIN, In “The Day.”
It would be difficult to over-praise the plastic skill that has been developed in the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, under the guidance of Boris Schatz, and has found expression in such a wide variety of relief sculpture in metals, ivory and even in cameo.
MARGUERITE B. WILLIAMS, In “The Chicago Daily News.”
Professor Boris Schatz has developed the arts and crafts among his people in Palestine to such a degree that the work now produced by them furnished by all odds the most distinguished exhibition of the sort which has been seen in Philadelphia this season.
C. H. BONTE, In Philadelphia Inquirer
Newspaper Comments - 20th Anniversary Exhibit
The Bezalel School in Jerusalem is an important factor for the economic development of Palestine, by enabling hundreds of young Jewish artists to gain a livelihood in wood carving, rug making, weaving, painting, sculpture, brass, silver and copper work. The products of the school are becoming internationally known.
“This is not merely an art activity,” Mr. James N. Rosenberg stated. “There is nothing more important than to aid the Jewish youth, whether in Russia, in Palestine or elsewhere, to become productive men and women, whether on the farm or in handicrafts or in other useful occupations. Therefore, the Bezalel school in Palestine serves not only an important purpose in art, but in economic life. The modest start which we have made toward the creation of a museum will in time to come, I hope, prove to be to Palestine what the Louvre is to France. In the last half century there has been a great birth of art among Jews. Among the great painters and sculptors of the entire world are many Jews. In Russia, Poland, France, Italy, England, America, Holland, Germany, Palestine, in all quarters we see this awakening, and it is to be hoped that in the course of time an adequate museum in Palestine will, in a worthy manner house the works of Jewish artists the world over. We are now to make a beginning.
“Daily Jewish Bulletin, N. Y.”
The Bezalel school is a co-operative community of artists and artisans. In his vision of a Palestine school for Jewish artists, Professor Schatz dreamed of a place where man would cease to be a slave to the modern machine, who works monotonously at one task, utterly deprived of the joy of creation, who usually does not even see the finished product of his labors. In the Bezalel school the artisan can once more plan and think about his work, and give to it the beauty of individuality. The artist, even more, is able to live a freer life, close to the beauties of nature.
“The Philadelphia Jewish Times.”
Professor Boris Schatz! A well built, young old man, bubbling over with the joy of his work, his kindly eyes kindled with delight at his new plans—that is Professor Boris Schatz, the famous Jewish sculptor and head of the Bezalel Arts and Crafts School, who recently came to this country. One might have expected that the many years that have spun their course since first Boris Schatz began his artistic activity, and chastened his ardor and burdened him with the pessimism of advancing years and the slowness of fruition. Some men, however, have the gift of conquering even over the deadening weight of years. Boris Schatz is one of them. He has been a sculptor since back in the “eighties”; he has been a painter, and for the past twenty years he has been the guiding spirit of the Bezalel Art School at Jerusalem. And today he is still youthfully enthusiastic. He still bubbles over with the story of the school, and tells of plans for enlarging it. A marvelous young old man, and only after you have met him and spoken to him do you realize why his efforts have attracted the hearts and eyes of numerous Jews in the Diaspora as well as in Palestine, and why he has carried through to success an ideal׳ which many at the time of its conception deemed a wild, although highly praiseworthy, dream.
SIDNEY WALLACH,
In “The Jewish Tribune.”
Now comes Professor Boris Shatz, the indefatigable veteran of Jewish artistic endeavor, the dreamer and doer, bringing with him the Bezalel exhibition of Palestine Arts and Crafts. And this exhibition has many phases of interest and value. The whole Bezalel art and crafts school is an inspiring monument to the courage, hardihood, faith and personality of Boris Shatz. Then again it will show us distinctly and forcibly how the soul of a people expresses itself through the plastic and graphic arts and applied arts, when consciously directed to that end. Moreover it will show us in a picturesque and memorable way how the outlook and soul of the Jewish people has been transformed by the much discussed renaissance of our own time. It will show us how the atmosphere of Palestine affects some of the most sensitive and intellectually and emotionally alert members of our people. It will show us how the sophistication, resulting from two thousand years of exile, fused with the noble, mountain-moving faith and simplicity of the ancient Hebrew, gives expression of itself through painting, sculpture and the allied arts.
Editorial, “Chicago Chronicle.”
When Boris Schatz went to cheder, the Biblical story of Bezalel made a very great impression on him. Through all the years of his successful European art career as court painter to King Ferdinand of Bulgaria and in many other positions, he did not forget the story of Bezalel, to him it remained one of the brightest spots in the tradition of his people. He dreamed of another Ark, an art school in Palestine where Jews living in a Jewish land could produce real Jewish art.
The Chicago “Jewish Child.”
Leading artists of America are participating in the twentieth anniversary celebration of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, by presenting to the school museum examples of their work. Art collectors are also contributing valuable paintings from their private collections. . . . The committee in charge of the exhibition is headed by Nathan Straus as honorary chairman, James N. Rosenberg, chairman; Charles A. Cowan, secretary, and Louis Topkis, treasurer. Among the members of the committee are Judge Julian W. Mack, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Louis Lipsky, George S. Hellman, Bernar Gussow, Leo Meltziner and many other distinguished Jews, men of affairs, artists and art lovers.
“Jewish Daily Bulletin,” N. Y.
The name of Boris Schatz is significant and will remain meaningful to the future historian of contemporary Jewish life and contemporary Jewish art. He is a pioneer and a builder, and all the works that are ever turned out by the Bezalel school and by the students of Bezalel school will in a measure be a monument to the memory of him.
J. Z. JACOBSON,
In “The Chicago Evening Post.”
The vision of Professor Schatz is: A Jewish art center in Jerusalem that will be at once a school, a bazaar and a museum. A mercaz Bezalel where east and west will meet in mingled beauty and utility. A building, soft hued with long galleries, sunny studios and stalls filled with the work of Hebrew artists and craftsmen. Palestinians and visitors from the ends of the earth, lingering in the museum and thronging the bazaar, where their eager purchases will make it possible to train more and more of the gifted youth of the Jewish homeland.
MARION WEINSTEIN, In “The Day.”
A rebuilt Palestine will also mean that Jewish authors will write great books in Hebrew, that Jewish artists will paint great pictures, taking their inspiration from the Jewish life in Palestine.
The Chicago “Jewish Child.”
Each piece in the exhibit is of Jewish in its inspiration. Each piece celebrates the triumphant revival of the art of the artisan. Everything in the exhibit has been fashioned by hands, reflecting the Hebraic Palestine spirit, in which Biblical beauty and Oriental imagination are combined.
“The Jewish World,” Philadelphia, Pa.
Much of the lofty and patient spirit of the medieval artists and artisans has animated Professor Schatz in his great undertaking. Machine-made art is anathema to him; the hand alone must fashion beauty, and under his guidance in far off Palestine he has given a generous outlet to the creative spirit of the Jew. From the school there will doubtless come successors to such as Ezekiel, Epstein, Pissaro, Antokolski, Israels, Lieberman and Mosler, though probably the artists of reanimated and rejuvenated Palestine will disclose in their work many more national traits and characteristics. At least one may be permitted to hope...
It is the fine spirit which so evidently went into the fashioning of all these things. It is plain, too, when one examines much of the work in detail that the old religious restrictions embodied chiefly in the “Thou shalt not make unto thyself any graven image, etc.,” are not operative in this school, for man and nature both figure largely in many of the compositions.
C. H. BONTE, In “Philadelphia Inquirer.”
There is something brave as well as beautiful in the rich results Bezalel has achieved in two decades. What a satisfaction to see genuine Jewish art created under the greatest handicaps in a short time by the so-called “race of trades”! And who can meet Professor Schatz, the moving spirit of the school, without finding himself somehow gripped by the feeling that this gentle but dauntless benefactor of the new Palestine must not be disappointed at any cost....
The school has entered into the very life of Palestine by its contributions to the country’s industrial as well as its aesthetic needs. It has educated eight hundred craftsmen, workers which the country could not afford to bring from abroad....
I had the privilege of visiting Bezalel several years ago. Professor Schatz showed me the school’s museum which has since grown from six to fourteen rooms. There were antiques found in Palestine and paintings by modern Jewish artists in the Diaspora, a Joseph Israels, a Solomon Solomons and a Max Lieberman. The Professor had hidden all these treasures from the Turks during the war in the cistern of the school’s cellar.
MARION WEINSTEIN, In “The Day.”
It would be difficult to over-praise the plastic skill that has been developed in the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, under the guidance of Boris Schatz, and has found expression in such a wide variety of relief sculpture in metals, ivory and even in cameo.
MARGUERITE B. WILLIAMS, In “The Chicago Daily News.”
Professor Boris Schatz has developed the arts and crafts among his people in Palestine to such a degree that the work now produced by them furnished by all odds the most distinguished exhibition of the sort which has been seen in Philadelphia this season.
C. H. BONTE, In Philadelphia Inquirer