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INTERNATIONAL
SHOAH ART MUSEUM |
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JUDAICA (Two-dimensional depictions of lamps, menorahs, ritual objects) |
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INTERNATIONAL
SHOAH ART MUSEUM |
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JUDAICA (Two-dimensional depictions of lamps, menorahs, ritual objects) |
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NANCY DICK LIGHTING A CHANUKAH MENORAH, CARBONDALE, ILLINOIS 1976 Acrylic on masonite Approx 24 inches H x 18 A southern Illinois native, Nancy Dick (now Nancy Dick Carlson) was a college girlfriend of the artist and graduated with a degree in art history from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale. Whereabouts unknown |
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STILL
LIFE WITH TALLIS, HEBREW PRAYER BOOK & SABBATH CANDLE STICKS 1988 Colored pencil, ink, pencil on paper with wood frame with decorative Akiva drawing Approx 20 inches H x 26 W A tallis (tallit in Hebrew) is a prayer shawl. At the start of sundown on the Jewish sabbath, which is on Friday evening, it is customary to light two sabbath candles at home. Another custom observed by Jews worldwide at the start of the sabbath meal is to put coins in a tzedakah box, for charity...so that people in one's community who are in need are helped. Private Collection: Debbie Figen, Rainer Waldman Adkins & Samuel Adkins, Seattle |
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SILVER-PLATED 19TH CENTURY POLISH
chanukah MENORAH Swiecznik chanukowy, posrebrzany, XIX w. 1991
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silver-plated 19th CENTURY POLISH chanukah MENORAH Swiecznik chanukowy, posrebrzany, XIX w. 1992 Ink, watercolor, pencil, with melted Chanukah candle wax 20 inches H x 16 W Private Collection: Joanne Drapkin
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 Please click to enlarge Size: 38 1/8 inches H x 22 1/8 W Ink & gouache on paper with melted candle wax and hand-painted wood frame. |
POLISH 20th CENTURY CHANUKAH MENORAH, SILVER Swiecznik chanukowy, posrebrzany, XX w. 1991 Based on a Chanukah menorah (Chanukiat in Hebrew) housed in the synagogue museum at ul. Seroka (Seroka street) in Krakow, Poland, which I visited in 1984 and 1985. A photo of the menorah can be seen in the book Polish Art & Culture (Interpress, Warsaw, 1983). The 12 hand-painted images on the frame are derived from the metal-embossed gold-colored cover of a Hebrew siddur (prayer book) I received as a gift for my 1963 Bar Mitzvah at Temple Sholom of Floral Park, N.Y. A few years ago I was amazed to see a recent version of the same publisher's prayer book, with color in the embossed cover's metal design, on the bookshelf at someone's home where I was visiting. The work was featured as a full-page color reproduction on the cover of the The Jewish Transcript Chanukah issue 1998, Seattle. $3,000 |
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EARLY 20th
CENTURY
POLISH CHANUKAH MENORAH, BRASS 1991-92 Ink, watercolor, pencil, with melted Chanukah candle wax Size: 40" H x 28" W Framed: $1,200. |
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1998
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SEATTLE
SABBATH LAMP DRAWING The inception for this drawing was based on a ceiling-hung 19th century sabbath lamp from Germany. Sabbath lamps go back thousands of years: they are lit before the sabbath and stay lit through the sabbath: Friday at sundown thorough Saturday at sundown. They offer a fascinating history of design, media and stylistic changes in regions throughout the world where Jews have lived. The bird at the top of my drawing was drawn from a bone bird carving a friend bought for me at a thrift shop as a birthday present in the 1970's. The airplane (upper right) was drawn from a 3" wooden toy. The cup below it has the Hebrew letter 'Yud' drawn on it. The Mickey Mouse was given to me by a former girlfriend who bought it at Goodwill. Plastic, it is attached to the top of a glass peanut butter jar with a candy adhesive, most likely marzipan, giving it an authentic Jewish taste. The jar has the Hebrew letter 'Hay' drawn on it. Next level down, upper row of candles: The opposite-end cups are drawn from a ceramic 'whale of a tea cup' I found at a garage sale or thrift store. The letters on the two cups are 'Vav' and 'Hay.' In Jewish religious life, the four Hebrew letters: Yud - Hay - Vav - Hay represent the unpronounceable name of G-D (God). Spelled out in English prayer book usage, the letter are written as YHVH or YHWH. The substitute word "Adonai" is frequently used in Jewish prayer books (stating the otherwise too-holy-to-pronounce name of God). Some Christians, trying to say aloud what cannot be said, erroneously say or write these four letters as Yahveh, Yahweh, and Jehovah. The two cups in the center are from dishes: plates, bowls, teacups, etc from chinaware sold in some stores in Seattle's International District (aka Chinatown). These dishes are white with blue-glazed carp depicted. The candles & their holders in the bottom level were drawn from brass candlesticks I bought some years ago in a charity thrift store. Private collection: David Segan |
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DRAWING FOR A SEATTLE
1998
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POLISH
20th CENTURY CHANUKAH MENORAH, SILVER Swiecznik chanukowy, posrebrzany, XX w. 2003. 24 inches H x 18 W Ink and gouache; colored pencil in the postage stamp section, and melted Chanukah candle wax. The drawing was created from a photo of the menorah seen in the website of the Israeli art auctioneers Hammersite. The actual menorah is missing its shamash (main candle holder). Private Collection: Adie Goldberg |
 Please click to enlarge Shown above: The black and white version Private collections: Fran & Tony Conto Kyle Peters Chaim Bezalel & Yonnah Levy Lynn Reichman David Sokal Gwen & Mark Thompson, Scotland Mimi Ash Rabbi Philip Rice & Rabbi Laurie Rice Hand-colored proofs: |
BRIGHTON & HOVE HEBREW SYNAGOGUE,
SCULPTURAL MENORAH, ENGLAND Linoleum block print. Drawn on-site in 2004; completed 2005. 15 H X 21 W (inches) 39 H x 53 W (cm) The Brighton & Hove synagogue is the second most important building in Brighton, England, after the Royal Pavilion. The artist drew the sculptural-sized sanctuary "Chanukiat" (Chanukah menorah) on-site in the sanctuary during his Brighton teaching visit to Sussex University for U.K. Holocaust Commemoration in January 2004. The beautiful sculptural menorah was created and dedicated around 1920. Currently closed for renovation, thanks to a major grant from the British Trust, the synagogue is a stunning example of late 19th century Victorian era architectural splendor. |
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CODEX
RIMON OF HASHOMAYIM
(BIRDS OF HEAVEN TORAH ORNAMENT) 2004 Ink & gouache on acid-free matboard 25 5/8 inches H x 18 5/8 W. Unframed. Inspired by a set of 19th century silver Rimonim from Bukhara that were recently reproduced in the Israeli auction house Hammersite's website. News accounts of the past few years report the Bukharan Jewish communities have been leaving in ever increasing numbers in the years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and and as economic and political upheaval and instability face the region. At least one New York Times article has focused on the Jewish Bukharan communities in Queens, NYC. The Pictorial History of the Jewish People (Crown, NY '52) describes Rimonim as "those exquisitely towered ornaments for the top of the rollers, jingling with their little bells of silver." The rollers referred to are the wood dowels or rods which hold a hand-calligraphied Torah. Torah, aka the Hebrew Scriptures, or Jewish Bible, is read in synagogue through the year. The Torah itself is hand written by a calligrapher or scribe, letter by letter, on parchment. Of Hashomayim is Hebrew for 'Birds of Heaven.' Rimon [pronounced ree-MOAN] is singular; rimonim [ree-moe-NEEM] plural. $2,500. |
 The full image, above Details below 
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CZECHOSLOVAKIA (DRAWING OF A HANUKAH LAMP FOR A SYNAGOGUE, BOHEMIA, 19th CENTURY) 2004 29 inches H x 21 3/4 W India ink with silver ink wash The imagery was inspired by photos seen in the 1983 book "Precious Legacy - Judaic Treasures from the Czechoslovak State Collections" (ed. by David Altshuler, pub. by Summit Books & The Smithsonian's Traveling Exhibition Service). The reproduction is not backwards; the writing on the drawing was intentionally written backwards, in the Leonardo writing style. Collection of Abby Gale Layton |
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SHABBOT CANDLEABRA WITH
MYSTERIOUS HOVERING STAR OF DAVID 2004 13 7/8 H x 16 7/8 W Rapidograph ink underdrawing, India ink and and colored pencil on drawing paper mounted on board A three-tiered candleabra Collection of Miriam Driss & Sue Libow |
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19th CENTURY POLISH BRASS CHANUKAH MENORAH WITH PICTOGLYPHS 2004 26 3/4" H x 22 1/4" W Ink, colored pencil, gouache, melted Chanukah candle wax on pale blue etching paper Collection of Rabbi James Mirel and Cantor Julie Mirel
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