On the Art of Painting in General and among Jews in Particular

In recent years, a time when the branches of science planted in the vineyard of the Enlightenment stretch out to our brethren in our land [i.e., the Russian Empire], and many eat their fruit, and many take shelter in their shade; a time when the eyes of the world behold the great talent of the Jews, and how they diligently work at anything related to science and scholarship; in a short time, seemingly overnight, there have risen among us men who excel in each endeavors and every study that they have adopted; in these times, the art of painting has poured forth its spirit upon the youths of our people. And some of them have already attracted the attention of today’s leading artists, glorifying the name of Israel. And our eyes see that from one day to the next, the desire for this prestigious art grows in the hearts of talented individuals, whose numbers keep growing. Therefore, I do not think it superfluous now to present a few words about the art of painting in general and among us in particular.

How happy is the man who has been graced by the Designer of nature with a feeling heart, with artistic talent! Only such a person’s eyes are able to see all the wonders, which are hidden away from other people, but which are revealed to him in their full glory in the sanctum of nature, full of glory, beauty, and splendor. Only such a man knows how to esteem the gracious, delightful treasures and beauty of the heavenly glow, which God graciously planted in the Garden of Eden, which He created for His handiwork [see Exodus 15:17]. Only in the heart of such a man will delicate emotions be awoken to sense every pleasant thing, to recognize all beauty, and to understand and comprehend the secrets of wondrous creation. [ . . . ]

The conclusion! There are depths of marvelous pleasures in the bosom of nature, delighting the eye and giving joy to the spirit. In a paradise full of splendor and beauty, a person sits, turns his gaze away and forgets where he is. A French painter wrote the following in his book: “If only all people would begin to teach their children, along with reading and writing, the art of painting, so that they would know how to look at the world where they live, and [understand the nature of] the earth upon which they stand. This would easily open for them a source of heavenly pleasure, a well of salvation from every sorrow that would “satisfy their souls” [see Isaiah 58:11] throughout their lives.” How true are his words, for only few are the writers and poets who detect the happiness hidden in the bosom of nature and are moved by its beauty. These are but few. Indeed, by studying the art of painting any person can feel all of these things, even if they have no talent to be a painter. [ . . . ]

Until now we have spoken about the art of painting in general; now let us turn to the art of painting among our people. We are eternally at war with the [other] nations, neither with sword nor with spear, but in spirit. From time immemorial, we have been mocked and scorned, and they have derided our religion and customs, even if they shined like the brightness of the heavens (Daniel 12:3), even if their foundations are in the holy mountains (Psalm 87:1); because it is easy to defame everything in the world and to besmirch its beauty, it is easy to call light darkness and sweetness bitter, and those who ostracize us always found some fault in our pure religion and always regarded our customs as disgraceful. Against them, our spiritual leaders always girded their loins to prove their error, to show by the light of day how high and exalted the institutions of our pure faith truly are. But to our great regret, they were unable to completely dispel the dark clouds surrounding the Lord’s vineyard—the people of Israel—to reveal the sweetness of its fruit—the holy, praiseworthy fruit—to the eyes of all the nations. And even now they boldly proclaim it lethal; they condemn the fruit to grave and slanderous disrepute. Indeed, if there were painters among our brethren, who were raised in the lap of Torah and wisdom, who were sated from the springs of the Talmud, and especially those who knew our holy tongue—Hebrew—and who were no strangers to Hebrew literature, especially Jewish history, and whose hearts were faithful to their people and their faith, then, without a doubt, they would find a remedy for all these things. Without a doubt, they would establish the name of Israel in fame and glory. [ . . . ]

From all this we may understand the great power of painting, of its effectiveness in exalting nation and individual alike. If there were among us painters who were men of spirit, lovers of their people and their religion, who would devote their talent to a sublime goal—to draw with a paintbrush all of the beauty, all of the holiness, all of the sublime in our customs and religion, our lives and our history, full of exalted and marvelous phenomena; if there were among us painters creating images in which devotion to the Lord and the fire of religion throbbed in their spirit, then without doubt, they would succeed with their work in expressing sublime sentiments, to arouse feelings of love and brotherhood in the hearts of our Christian brethren for the marvelous Jewish people, in freedom and in oppression, in life and in death, in joy and in lamentation; and they would make all the grandeur and splendor visible to the eye, for honor and glory. [ . . . ]

Now, having proven how good and necessary it is for us to increase the number of Jewish painters among us, painters in the fullest sense of the word; looking at the status of painting among us at present, we see that we are still very far from this goal. In all the European countries, there are many painters from among our brethren endowed with marvelous talent, whose wonderful paintings are exhibited in museums, but few of them—and we may say that at this time there is hardly anyone at all—tread the aforementioned holy path. And among the Jews of Russia only two or three artists can be found, and they, too, apparently, are not heading toward the goal we have mentioned. We harbor little hope with the rest, the students of the academy,¹ that they will take this path. And who is to blame? Generally it is not the students, because some of them did not grow up on the knees of Torah and faith—like those born in small towns who studied in the yeshiva, who are fully immersed in the depths of Jewishness, who have a powerful and enduring love for their people (the best of our authors also grew up with such education, and the sentiments necessary for an author are also necessary for a painter)—and only know the customs of our religion and the principles of our faith by hearsay, and perhaps give a heedful ear to the voice of those who besmirch our majestic faith; how can we hope that the aforementioned good will come from them? And some others, whom we have not discussed, could attain this goal if they only wished to; they, too, will not set their hearts to the interests and benefit of their people. Because in general we see indifference toward the art of painting among our brethren in our land [the Russian Empire], which also makes painters indifferent. In order to produce paintings like those of Oppenheim,² it is necessary to admire, be excited, and devote one’s whole soul and might to the love of one’s people.

Indeed, although many reasons are behind this sad phenomenon, I will only mention now what I understand to be the primary reason: I have already said that only those who were raised in the lap of the Bible and the Talmud, whose hearts throb with faith and love for their nation, who were raised in small towns among their brethren, in a place where time [i.e., modernity] has not influenced the customs of the Jews and their faith to change their appearances and conduct until one can no longer see that they were cut from the same Jewish cloth, or to completely uproot and annihilate them, to those for whom the history of their people and its language, the Hebrew language, are not foreign; only they can increase the prestige of the art of painting among us, to bring to life thousands of sublime, marvelous visions and to exhibit them for all the nations to see, for the glory of Israel—only they are capable and these are still too few among us. And the blame falls only upon journals and contemporary writers, who, while going through the scholarly repertoire, pluck choice flowers and blossoms to transplant amongst our people’s garden, tirelessly pursuing like worker bees, the juice of every flower in all corners of the garden of knowledge, to translate it into our holy tongue, to provide pleasure and benefit also to those, from our youth to elderly, who are willing to eat of the fruit of the tree of knowledge³ planted only in the garden of Hebrew—they [the aforementioned writers] have closed their eyes to the tree of knowledge of painting and the arts that rises proudly in the garden of wisdom, they did not pay attention to its beauty and glory, and did not take from it even one twig to plant in the garden of our language among the other trees of knowledge [i.e., they are not writing about painting, while otherwise focusing on other cultural subjects]. [ . . . ]

And therefore, to you, honorable writers, lovers of our people, to you I address my words. Please be so good as to spare some kindness to the art of painting, so miserable and desolate among us, to devote to it, too, a few of your pleasant words that compel the hearts of readers, to arouse the hearts of our young people to love this beautiful craft—which can sustain the one who masters it—and to guide them on the path toward their goal [painting with a Jewish spirit]. For Jewish publications circulate in every single city, and our young people hungrily devour every syllable and each word within them—great is the benefit that your words will bring. You will see, and your heart will rejoice [see Isaiah 66:14], that in a short time there will be painters among us who will walk on this holy path, who will honor the name of Israel, not only with their fame but also with their handiwork, their artistic creations. Then the art of painting will flourish among us and bloom like a lily (Isaiah 35:1). It will also bring the fruit set aside for jubilation to gladden the heart of each who loves his people, and then Jacob will not be ashamed, and his face will not be pale when he sees that his children [Jewish painters] sanctify and revere his name among the nations for fame, praise, and glory.⁴

Iyar 5641 [May 1881], St. Petersburg