Jewish art is a general term that refers to works created by Jewish artists that depict subjects derived from the Bible or Jewish life. Some apply this concept to any art created by Jews. Traditionally, Jews have expressed their yearning for beauty and art in ornate vessels, Illustrated books, carved tombstones, stamps and jewelery According to popular belief, in Jewish society, painting and sculpture were considered a violation of the Second Commandment: 'You shall not make a statue and any image which is in the sky above and in the land below and in the water below the land (Exodus 4: 4).
b. Groningen, 1824 - d. Hague, 1911
Self-portrait, 1903, oil on canvas
Josef Israels was a Dutch Jewish painter born to the family of a money changer. He studied art with Cornelius Cruseman in Amsterdam and at the cole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he, like others, learned to copy old masters' paintings in the Louvre. Under the guidance of Ary Sheffer, he executed a number of Biblical scenes in the Romantic style.
b. Berlin, 1876 - d. Haifa, 1944
Bearded Man, 1909, black and white chalkHermann Struck, painter and engraver, was born into a wealthy Orthodox Jewish family in Berlin. He was introduced to the art of etching, at which he excelled, by Hans Meyer at the Berlin Academy of Art and it soon became his favorite technique. In 1900, Struck traveled to Holland, where he studied with Jozef Israels.
Bearded Man, 1909, black and white chalkHermann Struck, painter and engraver, was born into a wealthy Orthodox Jewish family in Berlin. He was introduced to the art of etching, at which he excelled, by Hans Meyer at the Berlin Academy of Art and it soon became his favorite technique. In 1900, Struck traveled to Holland, where he studied with Jozef Israels.
b. Zerkow, Poland, 1887 - d. Jerusalem, 1968
Blessing of the Moon, 1920, oil on canvasJacob Steinhardt, who became a well-known Israeli painter and printmaker, left his native Poland in 1906 to study in Berlin, first at the Museum of Arts and Crafts and then under the engraver Hermann Struck. He also studied in Paris under Laurens and Matisse, who apparently had a minor influence on his style.
b. Plonsk, 1880 - d. Jerusalem, 1940
Day of Atonement Eve, 1931, watercolors
Jozef Budko received a traditional Jewish education in his youth and later studied art in Vilna and Berlin under Franz von Stuck. He immigrated to Palestine in 1933, and was appointed director of the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Crafts in 1935. Budko created many illustrations for prayer books