Boris Schatz: His Life and Work, Monography
Boris Schatz
1925
Part 1
In 1905, while staying in Vienna, Boris Schatz planned to publish a book titled Schatz and His Work consisting of a correspondence between himself and an art critic referred to as "R." The book was never published, and its contents were only released twenty years later in this monograph.
In the opening of the monograph, Schatz promises a second, additional volume in which he would continue to recount the events of his life — a plan that ultimately never materialized.
The monograph includes a booklet with text in both Hebrew and English, and 40 mounted photographs on paper of his reliefs and sculptures, such as the statue of Mattathias, biblical and Jewish figures and scenes, and Zionist leaders. All are housed in a sturdy and elegant cardboard box covered in leather.
On the book's cover is a relief by Schatz depicting Jews at prayer, along with a verse about Jerusalem (in the copy held by the Tel Aviv Museum of Art, this relief is missing).
In the text, Schatz describes his life story, memories, beliefs, reflections, and artistic journey. The text appears in both Hebrew and English, with differences in design and typography. The English text is printed in a conservative format — one page with two columns. The Hebrew text, in contrast, breaks conventional graphic and typographic rules: small photographs of his artworks are affixed as decorations beside the text. The Hebrew is printed in very small and dense letters, with swirling lines extending from the end of sentences or paragraphs, adding visual clutter and making it difficult to read. Page designs vary, and some resemble pages of the Talmud.
An introduction by historian Josef Klausner appears only in the English section. The booklet was edited and translated by Mordechai Narkiss (1898–1957), an art scholar who directed the Bezalel National Museum.
The book was published by Benei Bezalel in Jerusalem in 1925 (Hebrew year: תרפ"ה) and printed at the Union Press in Vienna. Benei Bezalel Publishing was affiliated with the Bezalel School and operated in Jerusalem during the 1920s and 1930s. It published books and journals in the fields of art and Jewish culture, contributed to their dissemination, and was part of the broader effort to establish a distinct Jewish artistic identity in the Land of Israel.
The book is part of the collection of the Tel Aviv Museum of Art Library and was photographed with its assistance.
- Pages: 0
- Type of binding: Stiff leather box
- Dimensions (cm): 40x30
- Printing: Union, by the Appel Brothers, Vienna
- Type of printing: Letterpress and Zincography
- Publication: Benei Bezalel
- Place of publication: Jerusalem
- Book photography: Leafing Magazine
The life, work, vision, and actions of Boris Schatz (1866–1932) are deeply intertwined with the history of Israeli and Zionist, spiritual, and cultural art. Schatz was a sculptor and painter who founded the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, as well as the Bezalel National Museum, whose collections formed the cornerstone of what would become the Israel Museum.
Schatz was born in Kovno, in the Russian Empire, to an ultra-Orthodox family. His father was a melamed (teacher) in a cheder (traditional Jewish school) and sent him to study at a yeshiva in Vilna. Vilna captivated Schatz, and he left the yeshiva to pursue art, drawing closer to Zionist circles. In the years before immigrating to the Land of Israel in 1906, he lived and worked as an artist in Warsaw and Paris; in Sofia, he served as a court sculptor to the Bulgarian king.
In 1903, he met Herzl in Vienna, and under Herzl’s influence, he conceived the Zionist idea of establishing a school of arts and crafts in Jerusalem where a distinctly Hebrew art would be created. In his vision, the school was to be a kind of Third Temple — a spiritual center radiating to the Jewish people and shaping a new national identity. Indeed, in 1906, Schatz arrived in Jerusalem and founded Bezalel in the spirit of the Arts and Crafts Movement, which advocated for a synthesis of fine art and practical craftsmanship.
As an artist, he believed that art should serve an idea — above all, the idea of the revival of the Jewish people. His works draw on biblical themes, Jewish and Zionist life, and express the renewed vitality of the Jewish people, its spiritual customs, and its contemporary leaders. His creations include small reliefs, sculptures, paintings, and prints influenced by classical and Baroque art.
In 1918, during World War I, he was exiled from Jerusalem to Safed by the Ottoman authorities. There, he wrote in Yiddish an utopian novel titled Jerusalem Rebuilt — a futuristic vision describing the Jewish State in Jerusalem in the year 2018, portrayed as a global cultural center.
Schatz frequently traveled around the world, exhibiting Bezalel’s works to raise funds from Jews in the Diaspora. During one such trip in the United States, he died suddenly at the age of 65. His coffin was brought back to the Land of Israel, and he was buried on the Mount of Olives.
