It cannot definitely be said that this imposing host of artists belonging to the Jewish people who have enriched Art, during a comparatively short period—proving in that way the Jewish capacity for art—have in their works revealed a pronounced Jewish spirit. Jewish artists and their works are scattered all over the world, and there is no possibility even of bringing copies of their works together in one collection, so as to ascertain ad oculos whether there is, in spite of all the differences of schools and influences of environment, any trace of a special character to distinguish them from other collections of this kind, as the special character can only be distinguished when a number of pictures can be reviewed together. Seeing that the racial element is no doubt a potent factor in art, the work of the Huszars of Budapest, the Massarinis of Rome and the Possarts of Munich must have something in common because, after all, in the depths of their being, they are neither Magyars, nor Italians, nor Germans, but Jews. On the other hand, one may say that these Jews, having become an assimilated unit of the peoples among whom they had lived, been educated and worked, have no longer anything in common with and do not represent any specific school of Jewish art.
Another question is, whether the aforementioned Jewish artists have been engaged in presenting Jewish subjects (which is a question altogether removed from the previous, more fundamental question). This question can be easily answered: Jewish subjects were dealt with by Eduard Bendemann (“Boaz and Ruth,” “The Mourning Jews,” “Jeremias”); Emile Lévy “The Feast of Tabernacles” and other pictures); Moses Jacob Ezekiel (various statues of great artistic value).
Apart from these artists who proved that Jews were capable of becoming more or less important artists, there were even at an earlier period some who not only displayed generally great artistic skill, but also gave evidence of understanding something about Jewish art.
First and foremost among these pioneers was Henry Leopold Levy, born in Paris, 1840, who painted “Joash saved from the Massacre of the Grandsons of Athaliah” (1867), “Hebrew Captives weeping over the Ruins of Jerusalem” (1869), and other pictures. Being, so to speak, a divinely inspired artist, his works give proof of profound emotions and transcendental beauty and force. His mastery of dramatic effect, his extent and depth of passion remind one of an old Hebrew prophet.
Moritz Daniel Oppenheim, who was known as “Professor Oppenheim” of Frankfurt (1801–82), is not of much importance from an artistic standpoint. In his time he was one of the most prominent illustrators of Jewish patriarchy. His “Pictures of Jewish Life” give the impression of great devotion and have gained considerable popularity through thousands of reproductions.[¹]
[¹] The Jews of the Continent offered a splendid album, bound in marone velvet, inlaid with gilt bronze, in 1842 to Sir Moses Montefiore after his return from the East, in commemoration of his efforts on behalf of the persecuted Jews of Damascus. On each cover is a painting by Jewish artists. About these paintings the authors of the address—which was signed by 1490 subscribers—say:—
“The consecration of Joshua by the legislator Moses, as the leader of the armies of Israel, was the first step towards creating Israel a separate state. The pencil of Professor Oppenheim’s genius has here worthily represented this event. Israel’s mourning at the streams of Babel, painted by the masterly hand of Bendemann, brings in the background before our spirit, Jerusalem in flames, and the house of God in ruins. Thus both representations combine whatever constitutes Israel’s pride and grief; whatever in the pages of history is capable of inspiring the champion of Israel with courage and zeal” (Allg. Zeit. d. Judenthums, 10 September, 1842).
A tragic figure in the annals of art was Simeon Solomon, born in Bristol, 1834 (d. in London, 1905). At an early age he showed signs of artistic ability and—as his biographers say—“came under the influence of D. G. Rossetti.” His drawings and paintings developed the mystical and sensuous tendencies of the pre-Raphaelite school to the extreme. He published a number of designs for the “Song of Songs” and reproductions of the drawings illustrating Jewish ceremonies. Keen critics of art ascribe to his genius a stimulating originality which influenced the whole pre-Raphaelite artistic school.
The pinnacle of Art, speaking generally, was reached by three prominent masters: Joseph Israels (1824–1911), Max Liebermann, and Solomon J. Solomon, R.A.
It was Joseph Israels who succeeded in representing the twilights of the Dutch atmosphere in all their individuality and tender charm. To understand how to portray Nature and Humanity, and more especially suffering Humanity, with equal care and art, and to bring into relief their organic interaction; to represent rural scenes, not as a stage setting but as an atmosphere, not forcible but imbued with poetic feeling; to invest human nature with a breath of such delicate lyricism that the impression created is one of love rather than of mere beauty; that is the chief characteristic of Israels’ art, which to us seems so entirely Jewish. It is the enchanting melancholy, the gentle, delicate longing, the half-uttered tones, the soft harmonies which are divined rather than seen or heard that make Israels appear so extraordinarily modern. It is not merely because Israels was a Jew, not merely because his greatest works represent Jewish subjects, but because his art was characterized by a rich poetic fancy, by kindliness and melancholy, and at the same time by a priestly solemnity and a great simplicity which harmonize so wonderfully with the deepest emotions of the Jewish Psyche, that we are justified in regarding Israels as a national-Jewish painter. We are acquainted with the Jewish Rabbi, the calm, discerning, introspective thinker, seeking for the great ethos of existence in all the passing phenomena of life. Joseph Israels was a painter-rabbi. He painted with the same fervour as a midrash scholar would teach, with which a Jehuda-ha-Levi would sing. A “Gaon” in the domain of Art, a “Baal-Shem” who works spells, causing angels to appear not by means of prayers and texts; not by means of cabbalistic incantations, but by means of colours, light and shade effects. Where so visible as in Israels, creations are the groups of Divine sparkle flying about the world, the creative embodiment of the “naked souls” thirsting for existence, peace and incarnation of which the Cabbala speaks with so much enthusiasm and of which Chassidism dreams.