The Denver Jewish news., 1925-08-13

| ing oil nlmscu-nOtC now ne mas
thrown out all the non-essentials in
his self -portrayal-how in the paint
ing you see him, not primarily as the
form of a face, but as the embodi-
ment of earnestness, of intensity, of
sympathy for suffering and love of
his fellow man. Form is there; pure
dclineation, too; but these are delib-
erately subordinated to the life in
terest of the character.
The larger number of his paintings
which are today exhibited as priced
possessions of the great art galleries
of the world, deal with simple fisher
folk and other peasants. In contrast
to the titles of his early romantic
classical period, note the nature of
later paintings, as cxcmpliied by the
following titles chosen at random:
On the Lookout: A lean figure,
hardened by years of unremitting
toll, yet womanly withal in its ex-
preston of abiding loyalty, deathless
affection and devotion--p placed against
the awesomc background of a raging
sea which seems bent on torturing
the mother and wife with the anguish
of suspense.
Little Jane: In size and form,
child of about five; yet there are al
ready unmistakable signs of battling
life, in the firm set of the features
and the professional way in which
she carries her basket, supposedly
laden with food for the men in the
field.
Honlcuard: A duet - father and
youngest daughter, the latter proud
and sturdy little figure, conscious of
her privilege in being able to accom-
pany home the dad whose well worn
scythe, carried lightly over his pow
crful shoulder, conveys the impress
sion of one WHO has well earned his
fcst from a full days toll.
When One Grovs Old: A painting
at which one does not look too long,
lest ones soul may be tempted to ut
ter the unutterable. Yet the poig-
nancy of even that lonely old grand
mothers figure is relieved by the
warm light still rising from the glow
ing logs, bcspeaking the thought that
there are still comforts which even
unattended old age may enjoy. n
The Painters JoWish Side
One phase of Josef Israels work
still remains to be considered-the
list of paintings which exhibits his
great Jewish heart and sympathies.
Here again we must 20 to lsraels' per-
sonal experiences. When father and
son found themselves widely apart on
the question of Joscf's becoming
banker, a temporary compromise was
reached in the decision that the lad
should study for the rabinnate. A
fairly intensive application to the
study Of Hebrew and Talmudic lore oc-
cupied the young man for time.
| lsraels, it is true, never became a
rabbi. But his paintings of Jewish
characters leave little douh1 of the
impress of his rabinnic training upon
his consciousness. One of his first
subjects to be transferred to the can
vas was DoVid Playing Before Sdai,
considered by some to be the best
item in Israel's early period.
A journey to Spain, which Israels
wrote up and had published under
that very title, gave to the artist if
not his finest portrait subject, at least
/ his finest Jewish portrait subject.
When Israels reached Tangier he was
| filed with curiosity to see the inte-
rior of one Of the great, square, stone
blocks that make up much of this old
Moorish town. The artist, then sew
enty-four years old, ventured into the
courtyard of one of the blocks, in
which a woman was drawing water
from the we'll. He passed her and
climbed to the top of dark stone
storeway, where a swaying curtain
enabled him to see into room and
be seen from it. He was surprised to
hear mans voice asking, in He
brew, what do you want here ?"
Israels, delighted to hear the ancient
tongue, replied, also in Hebrew:
"The Lord be with you, the Lord
bless you; / am jew from Holland y
Israels delightfully."- records how he
tried to answer the old mans ques-
tions and had little difficulty in
summoning sufficiently fluent sup
ply of Hebrew phrases to keep the
conversation going smoothly! At any
rate, Israels must have got by, for in
the end the artist embodied his ac-
quaintance in The Scribe. Mean
while he had entered room into
the darkness of which light pierced
through only one narrow window
against which was n trestlc table,