Jewish Ceremonial Art – The Soul of a People: Part 2

In many an auction there have often been unexpected surprises, such as an item that was estimated as a high seller failing to reach even the lowest threshold of its estimated value or an item selling for an amount far above the expected. Last Thursday’s auction, at Kestenbaum and Company, was no exception. While some lots may not have sold at the expected price, others indeed went for higher sums.

Just as art reveals the artist’s soul, and ceremonial art reveals the soul of a people, how and why later generations value that art speaks volumes of that particular people’s past. Last Thursday, quite a few items exceeded their estimates but two of them – in particular – demonstrate to me what we, as Jews, still treasure today.

UKRANIAN/POLISH SILVER SPICE TOWER. Single tier tower, engraved on four sides with animals representing the adage from Ethics of the Fathers: Bold as a Leopard, Swift as an Eagle, Fleet as a Deer, Strong as a Lion (Chapter 5:23). Set on knop stem and matching square base. Marked. Height: 7 inches.

Circa 1820: $6,000-$8,000

The above item sold for $15,000. Frankly, from a strictly artistic point of view, there were more beautiful, more intricately designed spice towers for havdala, even in this very auction; the particular lot, however, stood out for its inscriptions telling a Jew that he must always be ready to act with alacrity, and defy every obstacle on his way to perform any one of Hakodosh Boruch Hu‘s commandments. While the esthetics of an item are important, its message and its function are – obviously – of greater value to us as a people…  even in the 21st century!

The second item I find worthy of mentioning is a mixed media work…

(Kaufman, Isidor. After). Studying the Talmud. Wood and mixed media (intarsia-style). Framed. 23.5 x 19.5 inches

Mid 20 century: $100-$150

Based on the Isidor Kaufman painting ‘Studying the Talmud’

The above item sold for $1500, ten times the highest estimated amount! Why? Because not only do we Jews value tradition, not only do we value books, we treasure learning and scholarship. Again the personal values of the buyer far outshine the artistic value of the work.

Attending this auction of Jewish Ceremonial Art showed me an important part of our character as a people. It reinforced the knowledge that no matter how far down the rungs of spiritual height our generation has descended, no matter how jaded we’ve become in the surroundings of the present day world, the values and beliefs our ancestors held are still engraved in our hearts. The flames of yahadut are indeed eternal and will forever warm our collective soul.

CS

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Jewish Ceremonial Art – The Soul of a People

This Evening’s Kosher Scene Radio Show

Our guest this evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), on our BlogTalkRadio show, will be Estie Wartenberg US sales/brand manager for Israel’s Recanati Winery. Among other subjects we will be talking about next week’s exciting Night of Wine and Art at the Igal Fedida Gallery.

Who is Ms. Wartenberg, what qualifies for her current position? In her own words:

I began my wine journey at the Royal Wine Corp in 2001, where I was hired as a sales representative for Queens, NY. In 2005 I was the first salesperson ever at Royal Wine Corp to receive the “Sales person of the Year” award. In 2007 I left Royal to go to The Beverage Network Publications and worked as the Sales and Marketing Manager out of their corporate office on John Street in NYC. I also wrote articles on Kosher wine for their industry magazines; The Beverage Media and The Beverage Journal. While I was working for the magazine, I got a call from Palm Bay International, the US importer for Recanati Wines. They were looking for someone with a background in Kosher wine to manage their Kosher brand in the US. (Palm Bay International mainly imports Italian non Kosher wine.) Palm Bay hired me in February 2010 to be the US Sales/Brand Manager for Recanati Winery.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, why not listen to last week’s broadcast with Allison Josephs from Jew in the City?

Don’t forget to tune us in this evening at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), on our BlogTalkRadio show, will be Estie Wartenberg US sales/brand manager for Israel’s Recanati Winery. We’ll be wait’n for ya!

CS

A Talk with Igal Fedida

This coming Wednesday at 10:00pm (Eastern Time), we will be talking to Igal Fedida. He is a modern painter with a message that extends beyond time. His colors are bold, Hebrew letters appear almost invariably, his brush strokes reveal a lot more about the subject matter than do the works of far more photo realistic artists. In short, though he paints Jewish art, his paintings speak to Jew and non-Jew alike, his works stir up emotions far beyond what the eyes can perceive. While looking at his works, you see the colors dance, you see the colors explode; no definable shape is discernible, yet everything that exists or ever existed is in them.

The artist in front of one of his creations.

I’ve been speaking to Igal almost daily over last week, his is a fascinating life’s journey to orthodoxy and the healing process of painting. His website, tells us:

Igal Fedida, born and raised in Israel, moved to the United States at an early age to pursue a successful business career in construction, design and remodeling. Being of curious and deeply spiritual nature, however, he decided to take some time to get to know the World and he traveled to many distant and unusual pockets of our home planet. He enjoyed drawing, sketching and design since an early age and he discovered the love for photography during his travels, capturing images of nature and people alike.

Returning to Los Angeles, he enrolled in intensive photography study program at the UCLA. Exploring the world of photography, his need for expression drove him to develop a unique form where he combined Polaroid photographs with water color in order to deepen the effect of the image. In doing so he discovered that his need to express the nature and the World that surrounds us far surpasses the limited potential of photography. Subsequently, as if an invisible hand pointed a direction, the magic door opened and he was pulled into the world of painting.

The gallery (at 1482 First Avenue, between 77th and 78th in Manhattan’s Upper East Side), showing his series on Creation.

Meanwhile, in case you missed it, please listen to our broadcast with Dimitry Salita. Dimitry is another interesting personality, an Orthodox Jewish boxer!

Whatever you do, please don’t forget to listen in to our show with Igal Fedida this coming Wednesday at 10:00pm (Eastern Time). In fact, gentle reader, why don’t you call in (at 714.333.3357) while we are talking to this fascinating guest?

CS

For a Night of Wine and Art, to meet Igal Fedida,
to sip some great Israeli  wines and partake of some delicious cheeses
on Wednesday, January 23rd, 2013,
click here

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A Night of Wine and Art

A Night of Wine and Art – Part 2

Illustrations, Paintings and Ceremonial Art – A Judaica Auction – Part 3

No auction at Kestenbaum and Company would ever be complete without some art.

There were quite a few art items – in this auction – ranging from illustrated books, to paintings, to kiddush cups, to beautifully written, superbly decorated meguillos and more, my personal favorite among the illustrations was Isidor Kauffman‘s set of color plates of chassidic life… Lot 243:

KAUFFMAN, ISIDOR. Complete set of Sixteen large plates, reproducing the artist’s work. Introductory German text by Rabbi Dr. H. P. Chajes. Each plate individually matted.
Original decorative portfolio, light wear. Lg. Folio

Vienna, 1925 $3000-$5000

As a painter Kauffman’s work is of considerable historical value, they are documents of a time gone by, they bring us aspects of the shtetl that was, a portrait of life forever snuffed out by the Nazi hordes whether in Galitzia, Poland or the Ukraine. With a sensitive, loving eye, Kauffman sought to reproduce every nuance of the people and objects he portrayed. There is life in every face, there is movement in every shape…

While there was certainly better art at this auction, Lot 359 attracted my attention me as the facial expression and pose showed me a Rov struggling with an halachic problem, or trying to find a new insight into a hard sugya. One can almost “see” the thoughts going through the mind of the one painted…

(RABBINIC PORTRAIT). Contemplation. Oil on canvas. signed upper right (undecipherable) Framed 16 x 17 inches.

20th century. $1000-1500

Lot 379…

LARGE DUTCH BRASS CHANUKAH LAMP. Prominent drip-pan encloses cast openwork lamp, the upper-section with for elongated freurs-de-lis, large servant light attached at center over central rectangular plaque with inscription: “For the Commandment is a Lamp, the Teaching is a Light (Proverbs VI:23) 9.5 x 12 inches.

circa 1700. $15,000-18,000

A very beautiful, intricately decorated silver bound prayer book, Lot 398…

SILVER BOUND PRAYER BOOK. Hebrew Festival Prayer-book. Printed in Venice by Stamperia Bragadina in 1750.

Embossed overall with Baroque Style decoration, including swirls and foliage. Upper coverwith central vignette of the sign of the Levite; rear cover of rampant lion aside tree with crown above. Pair of clasps and hinges. Height: 7.5 inches. Kassel 1770.

$4000-5000

Jewish art, whether a painting, whether ceremonial is a document of a time, past or present, that either passed or is fast passing through. It is a silent witness to what was, what is and… what could still be.

CS