Alexander Raymond Katz

Chicago Modernist Gouache Painting Shabbat Hebrew Calligraphy WPA Artist Judaica

This has young ISraeli pioneers dancing with the flag as typical of works of the late British mandate Palestine era early state of Israel. Genre: Modern Subject: Figurative (stained glass style) Medium: Mixed media gouache on paper Hand signed lower left Alexander Raymond Katz, Hungarian / American (1895 – 1974) Alexander Raymond Katz was born in Kassa, Hungary, and came to the United States in 1909. He studied at the Art Institute of Chicago and the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts. In the late 1920s, he worked as a director of the Poster Department at Paramount Studios. He was appointed the Director of Posters for the Chicago Civic Opera in 1930. During the Great Depression, notable architect Frank Lloyd Wright urged Katz to become a muralist. In 1933, he was commissioned to paint a mural for the Century of Progress exposition in Chicago. In 1936, he painted the mural History of the Immigrant for the Madison, Ill., post office. Katz’s works were included in various exhibitions and now are part of several museum collections, including those of the Art Institute of Chicago; Corcoran Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.; and the Jewish Museum, New York. His murals, bas-reliefs and stained glass designs adorn more than 200 Jewish synagogues in the United States. Katz and other Jewish artists in Chicago who expressed Jewish and Biblical themes were inspired by the artist Abel Pann (1883-1963). Pann, who is regarded as the leading painter of the Land of Israel, exhibited in the Art Institute of Chicago in 1920. Early in his career, Katz began to explore the artistic possibilities inherent in the characters of the Hebrew alphabet. He developed aesthetic and philosophical interpretations of each letter and became the leading innovator and pioneer in the field of Hebraic art. Katz applies this concept in the woodcut Moses and the Burning Bush. Hebrew letters appears in Moses’ head, his cane and inside the flame. The initial of Moses’ name crowns his head. The letter in the flame is the first letter of the name of God. A combination of images and Hebrew letters appeared commonly in illustrations of the scene Moses and the Burning Bush in the Haggadah, the book of Passover. The symbolism of the burning bush corresponds to the motifs of A Gift to Biro-Bidjan. Among the fourteen participating artists were notable Chicago modernists Todros Geller, Mitchell Siporin...

Moses Bahelfer BAGEL (1908-1995) Moses Bagel (born Moshe Bahelfer) was a Polish-born Jewish artist and graphic designer associated with the original Bauhaus and then the School of Pa...

Abram Tromka ( Polish/ Russian American 1896-1954 ) Hand signed upper center right. Bears label from Marbella Gallery, New York verso "Two Men Praying" (Davening) Dimensions: Sight- ...

Abstract Hebrew Prints on heavy mould made paper from small edition of 15. there is a facing page of text in Hungarian folded over. Hard edged geometric abstract prints in color base...

Embossed lithograph with foil stamping on paper. Hand signed and numbered by the artist. From the edition of 300. Artwork is in excellent condition. Certificate of authenticity in...

Reuven Rubin, Israeli (1893 - 1974) - X from Visions of the Bible, Year: 1972, Medium: Lithograph, signed and numbered in pencil, Edition: 83/150, Image Size: 25 x 18 inches, Siz...

Artist: Donald Roy Purdy, American (1924 - ) Title: Rabbi Year: circa 1960 Medium: Oil on Masonite, signed l.r. Size: 36 x 24 in. (91.44 x 60.96 cm)

A fantastic original Mid-Century Modern abstract gouache painting by famed Israeli painter/ artist Aharon Kahana. Kahana was born in Stuttgart, Germa...