Bineth Gallery of Fine Arts
In 1903 Professor Boris Schatz made a relief portrait of Dr. Herzl. On the left side of this portrait he engraved a message: “I believe the Maccabees will rise again, a generation of Jews who want to be redeemed and shall be redeemed”. On the other side of Dr. Herzl’s portrait stands the figure of Moses, his stick in hand, leading the Jews out of bondage.
If Herzl played the part of Moses, Schatz saw his own role in the rebirth of the nation in the image of Bezalel, the biblical artist. Born in 1867 Schatz was sent for rabbinical studies to Vilna, the “Jerusalem” of Hebrew learning in eastern Europe. The big city opened new horizons for him and after a short while he went to Paris, the centre of western art. Here he achieved his maturity as an artist, reached fame and success and accepted an invitation from the King of Bulgaria to become the court’s artist and head of the Royal Academy and Museum in Sofia.
But, at the turn of the century, the artist discovered his real destiny. The role of Bezalel became his obsession and like the biblical artist Bezalel, who built the Tabernacle in the desert, Schatz founded the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem, then artistically as barren as the wilderness of Sinai. Only a man with complete devotion and great insight could, in 1905, dream that Jerusalem should become the capital of the Jewish State and the Centre of art and Hebrew culture.
It sounds almost a legend, but in a few short years, the Bezalel in Jerusalem became an arts and crafts school with 24 departments: from painting to sculpture, from carpet weaving to jewelry making, with hundreds of students and good art teachers from all over the world. Schatz who died in 1932, is recognized as the father of Israeli art.
His devotion to the idea of Bezalel and its realization has enhanced and added to his own artistic expression. The mixture of Jewishness and art inspired his work. The face of the Jew was the centre of most of his work. His chosen media was bas-relief which he mastered with elegance and power.
Allowing the light to play on his bronze-cast creations he portrayed Jeremiah the Prophet, Ben Yehuda, father of modern Hebrew, Deborah the Prophetess and the Jewish woman blessing the candles. His subject matter was taken from his biblical heritage, traditional Jewish life and faces of inspiring Jewish personalities. All of them were portrayed with dignity and pride.
With the growing interest of art collectors and institutions the world over in the works of Professor Schatz, his estate commissioned the Bineth Gallery of Fine Arts to deal with the sale of his work of which some are reproduced in this booklet and some appear on the attached partial list. For further details or information please contact the Gallery.
Bineth Gallery of Fine Arts
In 1903 Professor Boris Schatz made a relief portrait of Dr. Herzl. On the left side of this portrait he engraved a message: “I believe the Maccabees will rise again, a generation of Jews who want to be redeemed and shall be redeemed”. On the other side of Dr. Herzl’s portrait stands the figure of Moses, his stick in hand, leading the Jews out of bondage.
If Herzl played the part of Moses, Schatz saw his own role in the rebirth of the nation in the image of Bezalel, the biblical artist. Born in 1867 Schatz was sent for rabbinical studies to Vilna, the “Jerusalem” of Hebrew learning in eastern Europe. The big city opened new horizons for him and after a short while he went to Paris, the centre of western art. Here he achieved his maturity as an artist, reached fame and success and accepted an invitation from the King of Bulgaria to become the court’s artist and head of the Royal Academy and Museum in Sofia.
But, at the turn of the century, the artist discovered his real destiny. The role of Bezalel became his obsession and like the biblical artist Bezalel, who built the Tabernacle in the desert, Schatz founded the Bezalel Art School in Jerusalem, then artistically as barren as the wilderness of Sinai. Only a man with complete devotion and great insight could, in 1905, dream that Jerusalem should become the capital of the Jewish State and the Centre of art and Hebrew culture.
It sounds almost a legend, but in a few short years, the Bezalel in Jerusalem became an arts and crafts school with 24 departments: from painting to sculpture, from carpet weaving to jewelry making, with hundreds of students and good art teachers from all over the world. Schatz who died in 1932, is recognized as the father of Israeli art.
His devotion to the idea of Bezalel and its realization has enhanced and added to his own artistic expression. The mixture of Jewishness and art inspired his work. The face of the Jew was the centre of most of his work. His chosen media was bas-relief which he mastered with elegance and power.
Allowing the light to play on his bronze-cast creations he portrayed Jeremiah the Prophet, Ben Yehuda, father of modern Hebrew, Deborah the Prophetess and the Jewish woman blessing the candles. His subject matter was taken from his biblical heritage, traditional Jewish life and faces of inspiring Jewish personalities. All of them were portrayed with dignity and pride.
With the growing interest of art collectors and institutions the world over in the works of Professor Schatz, his estate commissioned the Bineth Gallery of Fine Arts to deal with the sale of his work of which some are reproduced in this booklet and some appear on the attached partial list. For further details or information please contact the Gallery.