MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
EMMANUEL LEVY (1900-1986)
TWO RABBIS CARRYING THE SCROLLS OF THE LAW
c. 1943 Oil on canvas
Signed (lower left): EMMANUEL LEVY
EMMANUEL LEVY
Emmanuel Levy’s Two Rabbis Carrying the Scrolls of the Law exemplifies his commitment to portraying Jewish ritual life with both reverence and modernist sensibility The painting depicts two solemn male figures striding purposefully across a red-carpeted space, each carrying a Torah scroll adorned with a Star of David and wra-
apped in white mantles Their traditional tallitot, with bold black stripes, cascade over their shoulders in rhythmic alignment with the angular movement of their limbs, generating a dynamic composition rooted in Cubist structure The monumental scale and sculptural solidity of the figures reflect Levy’s early engagement with Cubism, yet his focus remains firmly on the psychological and cultural dignity of his subjects. The background is compressed, enhancing the emphasis on the forward momentum of the rabbis, who are rendered not as individualized portraits but as archetypes of communal devotion and continuity Their forward gaze and firm grip on the scrolls convey the symbolic weight of preserving religious identity and spiritual heritage Levy, the son of a synagogue beadle and a lifelong Mancunian artist, drew upon both his intimate knowledge of Jewish life and his formal training under Adolphe Valette to craft images that dignify everyday ritual Here, he transforms a moment of sacred procession into a timeless emblem of resilience and faith
Emmanuel Levy was born to Russian-Jewish immigrant parents in Hightown, Manchester, England in 1900 Like Jacob Kramer, he was one of a small group of Jewish artists, whose families, fleeing persecution, restrictive legislation and economic hardship settled in the north of England as part of a wider wave of Jew-
ish migration to Britain at the close of the nineteenth century Hightown was immortalized by the Jewish writer Louis Golding in his best-selling novel Magnolia Street (1932), which Levy later adapted as a radio play His father was the beadle at the Great Synagogue, Cheetham Hill and he attended the local Jews’ Free School, before studying at Manchester School of Art under Adolphe Valette (c. 1918) together with L. S. Lowry (whose portrait he drew), as well as at St Martin’s School of Art in London, and in Paris He returned to Manchester for his first solo show in 1925 His early work included Jewish subject matter, such as The Mourners (Sitting Shiva) (1928, Ben Uri Collection), executed in a semi-Cubist manner In 1928 Levy was appointed a special instructor in life drawing at Manchester University School of Architecture upon the recommendation of Valette, whom he succeeded He also gave popular public demonstrations in portrait painting From 1929, for several years, he was Art Critic for Manchester City News and the Evening News and his 60-year career was so closely associated with his native city that Lord Ardwick described him as ‘a Manchester man through and through. But he continued, there is nothing provincial or even distinctly English in his work He is a citizen of the world’
Although he experimented with Cubism and Surrealism, Levy abandoned these styles in favour of naturalism, specializing in figurative work exploring the human condition His wife, Ursula Leo (1915–1984), one of his pupils and a painter in her own right, was a German-Jewish refugee from Nazism and during the Second World, he painted ‘Crucifixion’ (1942), a cri-de-coeur against Jewish persecution under the Nazis in mainland Europe. He held six solo exhibitions in Manchester between 1925 and 1963, with further solo shows in London, including at Ben Uri (1953, 1978 and 1989), where his work was also shown from 1935 onwards in numerous group shows; a further solo show was held in Brunner, Norwich in 1952 Retrospectives were held at Salford City Art Gallery (1948), Fieldborne Galleries, London (1976) and Stockport Art Gallery (1982) He also exhibited with the AIA (Artists' International Association) including in 1953 and 1954 Emmanuel Levy died in London, England in 1986 His work is represented in UK Collections including the National Portrait Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, Salford Museum and Art Gallery and the Whitworth In 2014 Ben Uri Gallery curated a posthumous retrospective, Made in Manchester: Emmanuel Levy, at Manchester Jewish Museum.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
