Art from the Jewish Renaissance in the Rubinstein-Horovic Collection

The owner of this collection, Tania Rubinstein-Horovic, comes from a family of collectors. She was the first in her family to take an interest in Jewish art, although the foundations for this were laid by her grandfather, the legendary collector Yakov Rubinstein (born in 1901 in Warsaw, died in 1983 in Moscow). Over a quarter of a century, under the restrictions of Soviet rule, Yakov Rubinstein succeeded in assembling one of the most outstanding collections of artworks by artists who lived and worked in the territory of the Russian Empire and the USSR during the first third of the 20th century.

Rubinstein’s interest in collecting coincided with the flourishing of secular Jewish culture in the Russian Empire. This cultural flourishing—often referred to as the “Jewish Renaissance”—was tragically brief. It began with expeditions to the Pale of Settlement between 1912 and 1914, initiated by the St. Petersburg Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Society and supported by Kiev banker Baron Vladimir Ginsburg. These expeditions were led by writer, journalist, and ethnographer S. An-sky (pseudonym of Shloyme-Zanvl Rappoport). The renaissance was brutally ended by the Holocaust and Stalin’s campaign to destroy Jewish culture between 1948 and 1953.

From the late 19th century, Jews in the Russian Empire were allowed to engage in visual arts and theater, although initially only a few were admitted to the Imperial Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg. However, young Jews soon flocked to the arts, coinciding with the emergence of the avant-garde. They studied at Alexandra Exter’s studio in Kyiv and in the art workshops of the Kyiv-based “Culture League.” These artists gathered at the Higher Art and Technical Studios (VKHUTEIN) and were actively involved in founding art groups.

Jewish theater became an important focal point for the creative energy of Judaism. Founded in 1919 and arbitrarily closed in 1949, the State Jewish Theater (GOSET) presented plays by Jewish authors and works from the world repertoire in Yiddish, as well as folklore-inspired productions. GOSET’s stage scenes and actor portrayals were captured in drawings and lithographs by artists such as Shaya Bronstein, Itela Mastbaum, and Irina Belyakova.

A private collection was created in a small apartment in Moscow by enthusiast Alexander Filzer, who named it the “Museum of Contemporary Jewish Art.” This unique museum operated unofficially until 1999, and when its founder moved to Israel, some of its exhibits became part of Tania Rubinstein-Horovic’s collection.

Here we present a selection of works by Tzfaniyah-Gedalia Kipnis, titled in Yiddish Shtetl – arayn un aroys (“Shtetl – From the Inside and Outside”).

Contact: Rima Kazlauskaitė, Manager; Mobile: +370 609 15 132; Email: [email protected]