World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות

/ למהותה של אמנות עממית THE WORKINGS OF FOLK ARTAuthor(s): RACHEL WISCHNITZER and ר' ווישניצרSource: Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies / דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעיכרך ב / VOLUME II ,היהדות, כרך דpp. 135-136 תשכ"ה / 1965Published by: World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדותStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23528221 .

Accessed: 22/06/2014 06:42

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

World Union of Jewish Studies / האיגוד העולמי למדעי היהדות is collaborating with JSTOR todigitize, preserve and extend access to Proceedings of the World Congress of Jewish Studies /דברי הקונגרס העולמי למדעי היהדות

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.129 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 06:42:17 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

THE WORKINGS OF FOLK ART

RACHEL WISCHNITZER

NEW YORK

When we review the trends which have revolutionized

the visual arts in our time — and I have in mind the

impact of cubism, of the various forms of abstract

visualization and the discovery of African sculpture —

we realize that our evaluation of folk art, as well as any

other aspect of the arts, must undergo a radical

revision.

Modern art criticism has responded to the heightened

creativity in painting, sculpture and the graphic arts. It

sees that the two approaches to the visual world, the

conceptual and the optical, are both valid. We may call

the conceptual the symbolical method of representation,

as it brings out the essential elements of a visual

experience. In contrast, the optical method aspires to a

'lifelike' rendering of an object. The object is shown in its environment, within the three-dimensional space in

which we live and move. This mode of presentation

requires the use of perspective.

Primitive art, Egyptian art, Greek archaic, early

Christian and early Jewish, Byzantine and Romanesque

belong in the first category. So does folk art.

In order to understand the working methods of the

popular artist, we may examine the way he uses his

source material. A comparison of his methods and

practices with those of the formally trained artist who

too is dependent on models and looks for inspiration in

extraneous sources will help to make clear the differences

in approach and the resulting differences in style.

We may take as an example a famous painting, the

Luncheon on the grass by Edouard Manet (1863 — the

Louvre). Manet admitted having used Giorgione's

Concert (before 1510 — the Louvre) for the arrangement

of the seated figures. What he did not mention was that

he had found an even better prototype in an engraving

by Marcantonio Raimondi, The judgment of Paris after

a drawing by Raphael.1 Characteristic of Manet however

was that he completely recast the motif so that the three

river gods — minor figures in the engraving — became

people of Manet's time, actually readily recognizable

portraits of Manet's entourage.

Let us now take the Passover meal, a hand painted

scene by an anonymous artist in a Passover Haggadah

(Amsterdam, 1738 — Fig. 34).2 The model of the little

painting was an engraving from the Haggadah published

in Amsterdam in 1695 (Fig. 35). This in turn had been

copied from a Bible illustrated by Matthaeus Merian

and published for the first time in Germany in 1625 and

later also in Holland (Fig. 36). Typical of the popular artist was the way he simplified and flattened the design,

reduced the suggestions of depth and, avoiding the

grouping of the figures, set them in a file fullface.

A glance at Merian's own method suffices to show how

differently he proceeded, for he too copied somebody

else's design. His model was a woodcut by Hans

Holbein the Younger, from a Bible printed in 1523 in

Basel (Fig. 37).3 Merian magnified the three-dimensional

effect of the scene by opening up a vista into distance and

introducing a play of light and shade.

The Ashkenazi artist on the other hand was not

concerned with the problem of space at all. In giving the

men in the Exodus scene oriental turbans, he tried to

portray them as Jews. His picture has a warm, emotional

appeal, while Holbein's is quaint — an effect which

Merian, his more refined taste notwithstanding, did not

deem necessary to eliminate.

We turn now to the painter Hayyim Segal who

decorated with frescoes the timber synagogue at Mogilev

on the Dnieper in 1740. Segal encircled the interior dome

of the synagogue with a set of loosely connected

scenes. We see there a city inscribed 'Wirms' with a huge

dragon lying in wait at its wall ; there is a stork carrying a

snake to feed his young, and under a tree labelled the

'Tree of Knowledge' appears a wheeled structure; then

too there is a ship, a 'Tree of Life', and the artist's

inscription. The symbolic images, obscure at first, reveal their

1. G. Pauli, 'Raffael und Manet', Monatshefte fiir

Kunstwissenschaft 1 (1908), p. 53ff.

2. Pictures from this Haggadah are reproduced in La

Haggadah de Paque, D'après les rites ashkenasi et sefardi

avec traduction française et annotations par Joseph Block

(Paris, Durlacher, 1950).

3. R. Wischnitzer-Bernstein, 'Von der Holbeinbibel zur

Amsterdamer Haggadah', Monatsschrift fiir Geschichte

und Wissenschaft des Judentums, new ser., 39, 7-8 (July—

August 1931), p. 269-286, passim, figs. 2 Sc 3.

135

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.129 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 06:42:17 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

136 RACHEL WISCHNITZER

meaning gradually. They refer to the German legend

explaining the origin of the name of the city of Worms4

and to a Jewish legend about 'The Wise Men of

Worms'.5 We cannot but admire the brevity and the

expressive power of these primitive paintings.

Most charming are the early nineteenth century

coloured drawings illustrating the Story of Joseph with

comments in Yiddish accompanying the pictures.

Shocken has published them with an introduction by

Erna Stein.6 The style, with the typical repetition of

identical figures set in a file, recalls that of the French

Epinal prints. Similar in style, but of coarser execution,

is a Jerusalem print illustrating the Esther story, by

Isaac Badab.

What is common then to works of the popular artist is

a certain mental pattern. We may find it anywhere. It is

not just a local feature.

We recognize it for instance in a Russian fresco

produced in Palekh, a village about 170 miles northeast

of Moscow. The village was originally a centre of icon

painting. Today it produces papier mâché boxes deco

rated with scenes from Russian folklore in lacquer

painting. The fresco in the village church belongs to the

earlier period of the Palekh school. It represents Jacob

blessing the sons of Joseph. As I have discovered, the

model of the scene was a woodcut by the ubiquitous

Holbein from a Bible printed in Lyons in 1538. The style, with its avoidance of overcuttings in the

arrangement of the figures and general simplification of

design, is the familiar folk art style.

There is a vivid interest in folk art everywhere today.

In the United States high prices are paid for 'Pennsyl

vania Dutch' work, produced by generations of German

immigrants.

There is an ample literature on folk art of every

nation in the world. Unfortunately I found not a single

item in the catalogues of the New York Public Library

referring to Jewish folk art. And yet this art is being

collected and fine specimens are to be found in the

Jewish Museums.

It is time that attention be paid to this fascinating aspect of Jewish creativity.

4. E. Kranzbuhler, Worms und die Heldensage (Worms,

1930). 5. R. Wischnitzer, The Architecture of the European

Synagogue (Philadelphia, 1964), p. 141-144.

6. Die Joseflegende 'in aquarellierten Zeichnungen eines

unbekannten russischen Juden der Biedermeierzeit, mit

den zugehôrigen Schriftstellen in der Verdeutschung von

Martin Buber und Franz Rosenzweig und mit einer Ein

leitung von Erna Stein' (Berlin, Schocken, 1935).

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.129 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 06:42:17 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

חול34.

רדסי

,חספ

תומש בי

,'אי

רויצ

ךותמ

,הדגה

םדרטסמא

1738.

האר)

ימע

477.) Fig.

34.

'Passover

meal,

Exodus

xn:ll',

painting

from

Haggadah,

Amsterdam

1738.

(See

p.

135.)

, ',''

VO';>

m

חול

35.

רדסי

,יחספ

טירחת

ךותמ

,הדגה

םדרטסמא

1695.

האר)'

ימע

477.)

Fig.

35.

'Passover

meal',

engraving

from

Haggadah,

Amsterdam

1695.

(See

p.

135.)

חול

36.

רדסי

/חספ

טירחת

ידימ

היתתמ

,ןאירמ

ךותמ

icônes

BibUcai

קלח

/א

םרטש

גרוב

1625.

האר)

ימע

477.)

Fig.

36.

'Passover

meal',

engraving

by

Matthaeus

Merian,

from

Icones

Biblicai,

part

I, Strasbourg

1625.

(See

p.

135.)

חול

37.

רדסי

/חספ

ץע-ךותיח

ידימ

סנאה

ןייבלוה

,ריעצה

ךותמ

,ך"נתה

לזאב

1523.

האר)

ימע

477.)

Fig.

37.

'Passover

meal',

woodcut

by

Hans

Holbein

the

Younger,

from

the

Old

Testament,

Basel

1523.

(See

p.

135.) tr 1

"W ',**2

mrnx

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.129 on Sun, 22 Jun 2014 06:42:17 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions