Skip to main content
Want more images or videos?
Request additional images or videos from the seller
1 of 6

Ben-Zion
Modernist Rabbi at Study Judaica Oil Painting

$4,500
£3,427.24
€3,950.39
CA$6,295.47
A$7,075.69
CHF 3,684.83
MX$86,057.91
NOK 47,151.96
SEK 44,713.95
DKK 29,483.13
Shipping
Retrieving quote...
The 1stDibs Promise:
Authenticity Guarantee,
Money-Back Guarantee,
24-Hour Cancellation

About the Item

Genre: Judaica Subject: Religious Medium: Oil Surface: Board Country: United States Dimensions: 17.5" x 21.75" Dimensions w/Frame: 24" x 28" Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Influenced by Spinoza, Knut Hamsun, and Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as Hebrew literature, Ben-Zion wrote poetry and essays that, like his visual work, attempt to reveal the deep “connection between man and the divine, and between man and earth.” An emigrant from the Ukraine, he came to the US in 1920. He wrote fairy tales and Judaic poems in Hebrew under the name Benzion Weinman, but when he began painting he dropped his last name and hyphenated his first, saying an artist needed only one name. Ben-Zion was a founding member of “The Ten: An Independent Group” The Ten” a 1930’s avant-garde group, Painted on anything handy. Ben-Zion often used cabinet doors (panels) in his work. Other members of group included Ilya Bolotowsky, Lee Gatch, Adolf Gottlieb, Louis Harris, Yanhkel Kufeld, Marcus Rothkowitz (later known as Mark Rothko), Louis Schanker, and Joseph Solman. The Art of “The Ten” was generally described as expressionist, as this style offered the best link between modernism and social art. Their exhibition at the Mercury Gallery in New York held at the same time as the Whitney Annual Exhibition of Contemporary American Painting, included a manifesto concentrating on aesthetic questions and criticisms of the conservative definition of modern art imposed by the Whitney. Ben-Zion’s work was quickly noticed. The New York Sun said he painted “furiously” and called him “the farthest along of the lot.” And the triptych, “The Glory of War,” was described by Art News as “resounding.” By 1939, The Ten disbanded because most of the members found individual galleries to represent their work. Ben-Zion had his first one-man show at the Artist’s Gallery in Greenwich Village and J.B. Neumann, the highly esteemed European art dealer who introduced Paul Klee, (among others) to America, purchased several of Ben-Zion’s drawings. Curt Valentin, another well-known dealer, exhibited groups of his drawings and undertook the printing of four portfolios of etchings, each composed of Ben-Zion’s biblical themes. Ben-Zion’s work is represented in many museums throughout the country including the Metropolitan, the Whitney, and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Art Institute of Chicago, the Philadelphia Museum of Art and the Phillips Collection, Washington. The Jewish Museum in New York opened in 1948 with a Ben-Zion exhibition. “Ben-Zion has his hands on the pulse of the common man and his natural world” As he emerged as an artist Ben-Zion never lost his gift for presenting the ordinary in ways that are vital, fresh and filled with emotions that are somber and exhilarating, joyous and thoughtful, and ultimately, filled with extraordinary poetic simplicity. Ben-Zion consistently threaded certain subject matter—nature, still life, the human figure, the Hebrew Bible, and the Jewish people—into his work throughout his life. "In all his work a profound human feeling remains. Sea and sky, even sheaves of wheat acquire a monolithic beauty and simplicity which delineates the transient as a reflection of the eternal. This sensitive inter- mingling of the physical and metaphysical is one of the most enduring features of Ben-Zion's works." (Excerpt from Stephen Kayser, “Biblical Paintings,” The Jewish Museum Catalogue, 1952). Ben-Zion continued his style of representational painting based on the abstract, and is perhaps best known for his Biblical paintings and etchings. Ben-Zion received an American Jewish Congress award. In 1987, Ben-Zion died in his home in the Chelsea section of Manhattan. He was 90 years old.
  • Creator:
    Ben-Zion (1897-1987, American)
  • Dimensions:
    Height: 24 in (60.96 cm)Width: 28 in (71.12 cm)
  • Medium:
  • Movement & Style:
  • Period:
  • Condition:
    frame has wear, painting has wear commensurate with age and use. Please see photos.
  • Gallery Location:
    Surfside, FL
  • Reference Number:
    1stDibs: LU38211989182

More From This Seller

View All
Modernist Judaica Oil Painting "Old Jew" Jewish Rabbi at Prayer
By Ben-Zion Weinman
Located in Surfside, FL
An oil on board Judaic painting by modern artist Ben-Zion Weinman. It depicts a portrait in profile of an old Jew. The work is signed "Ben-Zion". Born in 1897, Ben-Zion Weinman celebrated his European Jewish heritage in his visual works as a sculptor, painter, and printmaker. Influenced by Spinoza, Knut Hamsun, and Wladyslaw Reymont, as well as Hebrew literature, Ben-Zion wrote poetry and essays that, like his visual work, attempt to reveal the deep “connection between man and the divine, and between man and earth.” An emigrant from the Ukraine, he came to the US in 1920. He wrote fairy tales and poems in Hebrew under the name Benzion Weinman, but when he began painting he dropped his last name and hyphenated his first, saying an artist needed only one name. Ben-Zion was a founding member of “The Ten: An Independent Group” The Ten” a 1930’s avant...
Category

1940s American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Oil, Board

Modernist Rabbi Judaica Painting on Gold Background
By Harry Sternberg
Located in Surfside, FL
A contorted Rabbi looking upward is depicted in a naive, and almost child-like manner. Vibrant colors, and gestural brushstrokes fill the composition, enhancing the flatness of the figure. Harry Sternberg, artist, teacher, and political activist was born in New York City's lower east side in 1904. He was the youngest of eight children born to his mother, a hungarian immigrant, and his father, an immigrant from Russia, . His passion for art came early; by age 12 he had begun saturday art classes at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. Sternberg continued to advance his formal art education through 1922, studying at at New York's prestigious Arts Students League alongside Raphael Soyer, Yasuo Kuniyoshi and other notables of the day. His career as a professional artist began in 1928 when he consigned a group of his early prints with the dealer Frederick Keppel in New York. In 1933 he returned to the Art Students League of New York as an instructor, where he taught etching, lithography and composition, continuing to teach there for over 34 years. During the Great Depression he was a WPA artist, and his murals are in post offices in Chicago, Chester and Sellersville, Pennsylvania. Sternberg came to national prominence as a printmaker, painter, and muralist, in the Depression era and during World War II. Sternberg was an acclaimed member of a vital generation of American artists dedicated to exposing social injustices and offering support for an egalitarian society. His interest in the plight of American workers...
Category

20th Century Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Acrylic, Illustration Board

Elderly Rabbi 20th Century Judaica Portrait
Located in Surfside, FL
The artist depicts the portrait of an older Rabbi from a profile view in the manner of Samuel Rothbort. The artist's brush work is expressive, while the subject matter has a high deg...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

The Kabbalists, Hassidic Rabbis Judaica Colorful Modernist Painting
By Joseph Wolins
Located in Surfside, FL
Joseph Wolins 1915-1999 Wolins was born in Atlantic City, New Jersey. He studied at the National Academy of Design from 1935 to 1941 under Leon Kroll. He also studied in Europe in ...
Category

20th Century American Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Rabbi Portrait, Acryclic on Canvas
By Moshe Katz
Located in Surfside, FL
Highly textured portrait of an elderly rabbinic sage. Moshe Katz was born March 2, 1937 in Bucharest, Romania. With his parents, he fled the Nazis and with much difficulty successfully made it safely to Israel. His paintings have been displayed by Arts International in galleries across the globe since the fall of 1965. He received second prize in the Israeli Group Artist Show in Halfa in 1959. Exhibits featuring his paintings of the young artist in the United States have taken place in Philadelphia, Los Angles...
Category

20th Century Expressionist Portrait Paintings

Materials

Acrylic

Rare Judaica Rabbi Oil Painting (JEWISH MAN HOLDING A CANE AND BOOKS)
By Samuel Heller
Located in Surfside, FL
Genre: Judaica Subject: Portrait Medium: Oil Surface: Canvas Dimensions: 20" x 16" x 3/4" Dimensions w/Frame: 24" x 19 1/2" Portrait of a Hasidic man in full traditional garb holdin...
Category

20th Century Impressionist Figurative Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

You May Also Like

Rabbi, Oil Painting by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi Year: circa 1960 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm)
Category

1960s Post-War Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Rabbi with Torah, 1970s Oil Painting by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi with Torah Year: circa 1970 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm) Frame Size: 45 x 31 in...
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Rabbi, Modern Oil Painting on Masonite by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm)
Category

Late 20th Century Post-War Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Rabbi holding the Torah, Oil Painting by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi 3 Year: circa 1970 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 30 x 24 in. (76.2 x 60.96 cm) Frame Size: 38 x 31 inches
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Rabbi 3, 1970s Oil Painting by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi 3 Year: circa 1970 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 24 x 30 in. (60.96 x 76.2 cm) Frame Size: 34 x 39 inches
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil

Rabbi, 1970s Oil Painting by Donald Roy Purdy
By Donald Roy Purdy
Located in Long Island City, NY
Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi with Torah Year: circa 1970 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 30 x 22.5 in. (76.2 x 57.15 cm) Frame Size: 38 x 31 i...
Category

1970s Modern Figurative Paintings

Materials

Masonite, Oil