Important Judaica

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Lot 92
  • 92

Ze'ev Raban

Estimate
60,000 - 80,000 USD
bidding is closed

Description

  • Ze'ev Raban
  • TWELVE ILLUSTRATIONS FOR THE BOOK OF JOB

  • each signed in Hebrew

  • gouache on paper
  • each image: 9 7/8 by 9 7/8 IN.
  • 25 by 25 CM.
  • Executed in 1956
The chapters and verses depicted are: I:4, I:14-15, I:16, I:17, I:19, II:1, II:9, II:11, XIX:15-16, XL:15,20-21, XLII:8-9, XLII:11-12 

Provenance

Acquired directly from the artist by the present owner

Exhibited

Raban Remembered, Jerusalem's Forgotten Master, Yeshiva University Museum, December 1982-June 1982, exhibition catalogue, no. 58

Literature

The Book of Job, Hebrew and English, revised by M. Friedlander, Sinai Publishing, Tel Aviv, 1967

 

Condition


In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Catalogue Note

Born Wolf Rawicki in Lodz in 1890, Ze'ev Raban studied art at a number of European institutions before immigrating to Palestine in 1912. There, under the invitation of Boris Schatz, Raban joined the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts where he  earned distinction as a visionary and advocate of the academy's utopian ideals.  Raban is best known for his expressive symbolist treatment of traditional Jewish themes.

The illustrations for the Book of Job are among the last in a long and productive career.  Gideon Ofrat notes that unlike his earlier sublime, idealized works, these take a different turn in which realism is stark and extremely intense.  The artist no longer  "frames" the works with ornamentation and they stand alone against the texts instead of being intertwined as one. The illustrations are dramatic and powerful, reflecting the events in the biblical story of Job. (Raban Remembered, p. 34)

The illustrations here were published in 1967.