Reuven Rubin

Guarino Gallery, New York (inscribed on the stretcher with the date 12/28/29)
Gift of Arthur Lehman

The canvas is unlined and somewhat heavy weight. The picture surface is in excellent condition with fresh, strong colors. Under UV there are no apparent signs of inpainting.
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Born in Romania, Reuven Rubin arrived in Eretz Israel in 1923, eventually settling in Tel Aviv. Rubin's celebrated early style is exemplified in The Drummer of Meron by his optimistic palette and keen eye for decorative, balanced compositions. This work expresses the sentiment of the complexities of the emerging nation. "The reality Rubin encountered in the land of Israel, and his deeply embedded emotional connection to the country and to the local landscape, fueled the new artistic language he created. This encounter,  the free reign of his imagination, his well-founded knowledge of Judaism and his familiarity with the history of art and with modernism led to the creation of a world that fused national, social and personal realities." (Carmela Rubin, Dreamland: Reuven Rubin and his Encounter with the Land of Israel in His Paintings of the 1920s and 1930s, exhibition catalogue, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2006, p. 236)

This painting is a beautiful example of Rubin's integration of figure and landscape. Depicting the mystical transcendence of the Hassidim during their Lag B'Omer celebrations on Mount Meron, a Hassidic drummer in the foreground, probably singled out by the artist from a procession of pilgrims to Mount Meron, is portrayed in traditional clothing. His elongated face, piercing almond-shaped blue eyes and tilted head all contribute to the uplifting, spiritual experience of the occasion. The idyllic hills of the Galilee dotted with their olive trees are depicted in the background. Along a winding path leading to a traditional local village, a man leads his camel, incorporating an oriental, Eastern aspect to the work. A secular Israeli, Rubin did not ignore his ties to Judaism and tradition, themes that recurred again and again in his paintings depicting the Hassidic community of Safed and its surroundings. "Rubin's secular gaze at the world of the past, which is set in its ways, is perhaps critical, yet it is at the same time the loving gaze of a Zionist, who is familiar with the Jewish sources, and who regards with wonder the ultimate and impractical devoutness of the Hassidic community." (Carmela Rubin, Dreamland: Reuven Rubin and His Encounter with the Land of Israel in His Paintings of the 1920s and the 1930s, exhibition catalogue, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, 2006, p. 216)