MASTERPIECES FROM THE BEN URI COLLECTION
SAMUEL HIRSZENBERG (1865-1908)
SABBATH REST
1894
Oil on canvas
Signed and dated (lower right): 'S Hirszenberg, 1894'
SAMUEL HIRSZENBERG
Samuel Hirszenberg's painting Sabbath Rest (1894) portrays a quiet, introspective scene that captures the spiritual and domestic essence of the Jewish Sabbath Hirszenberg places the composition within a modest, dimly-lit interior, where the muted color palette underscores a mood of reflection and tranquility A central
window provides gentle illumination, softly highlighting the figures and reinforcing the restful sanctity associated with the Sabbath The painting carefully depicts figures gathered in thoughtful repose or quiet contemplation: a seated man reading from a prayer book, an elderly figure absorbed in reflection, a woman standing by the window, and another quietly attending the resting child. Richly detailed domestic elements such as candlesticks on a table, simple furnishings, and portraits adorning the walls deepen the intimacy and authenticity of the scene. Through this sensitive rendering of everyday spirituality, Hirszenberg articulates themes of cultural continuity and religious observance integral to Jewish life in Poland during the late nineteenth century This depiction, part of a broader artistic interest in portraying the lived realities of Jewish communities, echoes Hirszenberg’s commitment to capturing the emotional resonance of tradition, family, and faith within ordinary settings, standing alongside his acclaimed works addressing broader themes of exile and social hardship
Samuel Hirszenberg was born into a Jewish family in Łódź, Poland on 22 February 1865; his younger brother was the painter Leon Hirszenberg (1869-1945), whom he instructed early on Łódź was then a burgeoning industrial city but when, at the age of 15, Hirszenberg entered the Academy of Fine Arts in Krakow, he enter-
ed an important cultural setting Two years later he completed his training in Munich at the Royal Academy of Arts (1885-89), under the Polish master Jan Matejko (1838–1893), following directly in the footsteps of Maurycy Gotlieb (1856–1879) In 1888 Hirszenberg spent ten important months in Paris, studying at the Académie Colarossi, alongside fellow Pole Maurycy Trębacz, before family circumstances recalled him to Łódź. There, over the next decade, he established a reputation for his monumental paintings depicting the condition of impoverished Polish Jews and was preoccupied with themes of exile and wandering. His lost masterpiece, 'Exile' (1904) was reproduced in the Yiddish magazine 'Ost und West' to great acclaim in 1905 However, 'Sabbath Rest' (1894, Ben Uri Collection), a later version of an 1890 work of the same title and similar composition (Museum of Modern Art, Łódź) shows how his interest in this subject pre-dates this composition
He also frequently painted landscapes and portraits Around 1898-99 Hirszenberg was commissioned by the Poznański family to create paintings for Izrael Poznański’s palace. In October 1907 however, Hirszenberg and his wife Dinah (a convert to Judaism), moved to Jerusalem, then under Ottoman rule, where Hirszenberg taught at the newly established Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts upon the invitation of its founder Boris Schatz Samuel Hirszenberg died suddenly, possibly of dysentery, on 15 September 1908 and was buried on the Mount of Olives His work is in the Ben Uri Collection in the UK, in international public collections including the Museum of Modern Art in Łódź, Poland, and Ein Harod and the Israel Museum in Israel, as well as private collections in America and Russia
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
COLLECTION: https://benuri.org/collections/
BURU: https://www.buru.org.uk/
