Description
Book SynopsisSamuel Hirszenberg is an artist who deserves to be more widely known: his work intertwined modernism and Jewish themes, and he influenced later artists of Jewish origin.
Born into a traditional Jewish family in Łódź in 1865, Hirszenberg gradually became attached to Polish culture and language as he pursued his artistic calling. Like Maurycy Gottlieb before him, he studied at the School of Art in Kraków, which was then headed by the master of Polish painting, Jan Matejko. His early interests were to persist with varying degrees of intensity throughout his life: his Polish surroundings, traditional east European Jews, historical themes, the Orient, and the nature of relationships between men and women. He also had a lifelong commitment to landscape painting and portraiture.
Hirszenberg’s personal circumstances, economic considerations, and historical upheavals took him to different countries, strongly influencing his artistic output. He moved to Jerusalem in 1907 and there, as a secular and acculturated Jew who had adopted the world of humanism and universalism, he strove also to express more personal aspirations and concerns. This fully illustrated study presents an intimate and detailed picture of the artist’s development.
Trade Review‘Hirszenberg is a fascinating and important artist who deserves to be known more widely, The authors have produced an authoritative volume about his life and work, his studies and travels, his patrons and fellow artists, opening a most interesting window on the world of Polish Jews and their various milieux—Jewish, Polish, and European—during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The intellectual approach is sophisticated and speaks to current concerns in the social and cultural history of art more generally.’ Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, Ronald S. Lauder Chief Curator, Core Exhibition, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
‘This comprehensive and well-researched book by two leading Israeli historians of Jewish art provides a fascinating account of Hirszenberg’s life and work, based on material preserved in Polish museums, private collections and archives, along with paintings, drawings and archival material in Israel, the United States, England, France, and Switzerland. Through its exploration of the complex situation of the Jews in partitioned Poland, how Jews fitted into the fin-de-siècle artistic world, and early Zionist visual culture, it will appeal to scholars and a wider public interested in the history of Jews in east-central Europe and in Jewish art.’ Antony Polonsky, Chief Historian of the Global Education Outreach Program, POLIN Museum of the History of Polish Jews, Warsaw
‘This book makes a valuable contribution to the field of Jewish art history in eastern Europe and adds new layers to our understanding of nineteenth-century Jewish life and culture more generally. Hirszenberg is an important and original, yet understudied artist, and this very readable and richly illustrated biography, based on much new material, will be enjoyed and cited for many years to come.’ Marcin Wodziński, University of Wrocław
‘Cohen and Rajner have made this figure, with all his complexities and inner tensions, accessible to a wider audience. The combination of historian and art expertise allows Hirszenberg to emerge against his contemporary background, while the detailed analysis of his works reflects the power and grace of the artist at all stages of his creative life.’ Mordechai Beck, The Jerusalem Post
‘This book demonstrates that Hirszenberg’s work as a Jewish artist was not only a deliberate choice, but also a process that continued throughout his life. It also offers evidence that interdisciplinary biographical writing is possible.’ Adam Mickiewicz, Studia Judaica
"Samuel Hirszenberg 1865-1908 represents an exemplary collaboration between a historian of modern Jewry (Cohen) and a historian of Jewish art (Rajner)… the book is essential for Judaica research libraries and art libraries." Zachary M. Baker, AJL Reviews
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Łódź: The Beginning
2. Kraków: Hirszenberg’s First Steps as an Artist
3. Coming of Age in Munich
4. The Years of Wandering: Paris, Łódź, and Munich
5. Success in Łódź
6. The Poznański Palace Commission
7. From Łódź to Kraków
8. Jerusalem: The Final Destination
9. Hirszenberg’s Legacy
Epilogue: Hirszenberg—the Man, the Artist
Bibliography
Index
