Creator Bio
Ze’ev Raban
1890–1970
The painter and decorative artist Ze’ev Raban (originally Wolf Rawicki) was born in Łódź, where he initially studied art; he continued his training in Munich and Brussels, where the influence of art nouveau was then at its zenith. He settled in Jerusalem in 1912 and joined the faculty of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts; most of the objects produced in its workshops between 1914 and 1929 were of his design. His style combined elements of art nouveau with motifs from traditional Syrian and Persian art. In addition to his striking and erotically charged art-nouveau works on biblical themes in a Jewish secular-national and Zionist vein, Raban also created the decorative elements for such well-known Jerusalem buildings as the King David Hotel and the YMCA, and designed a wide variety of everyday objects, including playing cards, banknotes, tourism posters, jewelry, commercial packaging, and Zionist insignia.
Entries in the Posen Library by This Creator
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Elijah’s Chair
Traditionally, the prophet Elijah is believed to be present at all Jewish circumcision ceremonies, and a chair is reserved for him. It serves as the seat of the godfather, who holds the baby boy…
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Come to Palestine
Raban was known as a designer, painter, and book illustrator but also designed at least two posters, including this one for the Society for the Promotion of Travel in the Holy Land. The poster’s…
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Illustrations to Song of Songs (4:1–6)
There have traditionally been two different interpretations of the biblical Song of Songs. It can be read as an erotic love poem or as a poem of yearning for the Land of Israel. Ze’ev Raban’s…
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Portrait of the Artist's Wife, with the Dome of the Rock in the Background
Ze’ev Raban painted this portrait of his wife, Miriam, in 1914, the same year they got married and he became head of the repoussé department at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design in Jerusalem. His…
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Wedding Ring with Adam, Eve, and Forbidden Fruit
This repoussé gold wedding ring inlaid with a diamond represents the iconic Bezalel style: a fusion of biblical motifs, early twentieth-century European art trends such as Jugendstil, and Eastern…