BEN-ZION
Biblical Themes. Eighteen Etchings.

Biblical Themes. Eighteen Etchings.

One of 65 numbered sets. Each plate signed by artist along with limitation notes in pencil. Loose as issued in original vellum-backed portfolio. Sheet size 17.5 x 22.5 inches (44.5 x 57 cm).

Paris - New York, Curt Valentin, 1950

Born in Galicia, Ben-Zion Weinman (1897-1987) was the son of a Cantor and steeped in Jewish tradition from his earliest years. After a brief time studying art in Vienna, Ben-Zion emigrated to America in 1920 where he gained recognition among Jewish immigrants in New York City as a gifted writer in Hebrew. For a time in the mid-1930s, Ben-Zion belonged to The Ten, a group of avant-garde artists which included Mark Rothko and Adolph Gottlieb. Group members worked in very different styles but were united in their opposition to regionalist art. Ben-Zion did not follow Rothko or Gottlieb into Abstract Expressionism and remained true all his career to figurative art.
     When Ben-Zion`s Biblical paintings were shown for the first time at the Jewish Museum in New York City in 1948, their strong graphic elements were immediately noticeable and the artist was asked if he would consider recreating the images as prints. Ben-Zion took up the challenge and found his sacred themes only gained in emotional power. In collaboration with the New York gallery owner, Curt Valentin, Ben-Zion set to work on a quartet of portfolios on themes from the Hebrew Scriptures, each containing eighteen prints.