page_title: Visual arts in Israel
section_title: Bezalel
hierarchical_section_title: Visual arts in Israel / Art of "The Land of Israel", 1906–1932 / Bezalel
caption_attribution_description: school in Ehad Haam street, Tel Aviv-Yaffo
context_page_description: Visual arts in Israel refers to plastic art created in the Land of Israel/Palestine region, from the later part of the 19th century until today, or art created by Israeli artists. Visual art in Israel encompasses a wide spectrum of techniques, styles and themes reflecting a dialogue with Jewish art throughout the ages and attempts to formulate a national identity.
context_section_description: Until the beginning of the 20th century no tradition of fine arts existed in the Land of Israel although European artists came as visitors and painted the "Holy Land". Artists and craftsmen of Judaica objects and other applied arts made up the majority of artists working in the Land of Israel. Although the “Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts,” known as "Bezalel", was not the first art school established in the Jewish settlement, its importance in setting the boundaries of the tradition of modern art in the Land of Israel was very great indeed, and it is customary to view its establishment as the beginning of Israeli art. The school was founded in 1906 by Boris Schatz with the support of heads of Jewish and Zionist institutions. At Bezalel emphasis was placed on objects of applied art with a metaphysical dimension.
  At the art school the influence of European Art Nouveau was in evidence, in addition to other social movements such as the British "Arts and Crafts" movement. In the logo of the quarterly magazine "Yalkut Bezalel", designed by Ze'ev Raban, we see within the ornate frame cherubs with a painter and a sculptor on each side and a lamp maker and a rug weaver next to them. Under the illustration is the caption "Work is the fruit; art is the bud; art without a soul is like prayer without conviction".
  Alongside the art school, within its different tracks, studios opened for the production of jewelry, tapestries, paintings and Jewish ceremonial objects that were sold in Jerusalem shops.  Schatz's vision included the idea of cross pollination between the various parts of the institution. "There is a practical side to the study of art", Schatz wrote, "The school always needs new drawings for the rugs and silver artifacts. Thus we need a series of artists who have absorbed the prevailing spirit of the school within their art, having studied with the expert teacher who embodies this spirit".
  In the art created in Bezalel during this period Jewish and religious motifs dominate, for example, descriptions of the holy places, scenes from the Diaspora, etc. The works are decorative and heavily engraved in the "Eastern" style. The descriptions sought a connection between the Biblical period, the Return to Zion [from the Babylonian exile] and the Hasmonean Kingdom of Israel [140-37 BC], and the Zionist aspirations for the development of a Jewish settlement, driven by ideological and Zionist sentiments. The artists did this by borrowing historical motifs they perceived as "Jewish" motifs and designs they perceived as "Eastern". Typography occupied a central place in their designs. Sometimes the text even became the main element in their compositions.
  The work of Schatz himself consisted mostly of small-scale sculptures of Jewish subjects, as well as reliefs and memorial plaques in honor of various Zionist leaders. His most famous sculpture is Mattathias (1894), which was influenced by Renaissance sculpture and in particular by the sculpture of Donatello. A different spirit entirely brought Samuel Hirszenberg (1865–1908), to the institution to join the Bezalel teaching staff. Hirszenberg brought European academic painting to Bezalel, and painted Jewish subjects within this framework. The artist Ze'ev Raban created many graphic works in the spirit of Art Nouveau, also known as "Jugendstil" ["Youth Style" in German]. The subjects of these works were "Orientalist" landscapes of the Holy Land and figures from the Bible drawn in the Neoclassical style. Among other well-known artists who taught at Bezalel were Ephraim Moses Lilien, Meir Gur-Arieh, Arnold (Aaron) Lachovsky, Erich (Arie) Goldberg, Adolph (Avraham) Berman, Shmuel Levi (Ophel), and others.
  Due to financial difficulties and political infighting the school closed in 1929. The museum, which housed many works of art, remained in the Bezalel building. This collection eventually served as the basis for the Art Wing of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.
caption: "Hebron", homemade glazed tiles made at the ceramics workshop at Bezalel.
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