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31.MaurycyGottlieb:KJewishwedding’,1876,oilon
canvas(grisaille),IsraelMuseuminJerusalem
utesofpower,wealthandculturalrefinement(the
diadem,theear-ring,aswellasthemethodofself-
depiction,emphasisingthevaluesofyouthandthe
originalityofaneasternbeauty).Everythinginthe
portrait,evenitselementsofhistoricism,servesto
revealtheartist)sownpsychologicalstate,askingby
meansoftherepresentationofa“portraitofasoul”18
aquestionaboutthefundamentalessenceofhuman
existence.
DuringthecourseofhisstudiesinMunich,
moreimportantforGottliebthanhisworkinthe
studioofKarlvonPilotywashiscontactwiththe
worksofRembrandtinthePinakothek.Livingclose
totheAmsterdamghetto,Rembrandtfrequently
engagedwithJewishmotifs.Hisworkprovided
Gottliebwithawiderangeofartisticandthematic
models.AndtheRomanticlegendofthetragicfate
andpovertyoftheartist,rejectedbysociety,wasalso
significant.
Powerfulchiaroscuroeffectswithlight,deriving
fromaconcealedsource,reflectedbygiltembroider-
ies,andatransparent,goldandambertone,melting
contoursoffigures,opulentandexoticrobes,and
finallyanatmosphereofmysteryandconcentration
-theseweretheelementsofRembrandt)sworkwhichGottliebadoptedinhisown,in
CShylockandJessica)
,CAhasuerus)andCOldwomaninacoif)
.UnderRembrandt)sinflu-
encehepaintedJewishscenesandportraits.ThepaintingsCJewishwedding)[ill.31]and
CWriterworkingontheTorah)
,bothfrom1877,weretheearliestpaintedexamplesof
thesethemes.Thefirst,asketchily-paintedchiaroscurocomposition,ischaracterisedby
compactness,andacertainmonumentalityachievedbymeansoftheverticalpositioning
ofthefigures,dressedinrich,easternrobes.Thechiaroscurostudyofthewriterofthe
TorahisGottlieb)sfirstdepictionofanindividualabsorbedinreligiouscontemplation.
Portraitsmakingreferencetotheartist)sinnerexperiencepresentedthepsycheand
theexperiencesofahumanbeing.Theybecameareflectionofthepsychologicalstateof
theircreator,whichmaterialisedbymeansoffindingamodelwithappropriatephysio-
gnomicfeaturesandbythemeansofpresentation.In1879BronisławZawadzkiwrote,
“Gottliebmanagedbymeansofanidealsynthesistounderstandtheessenceofthehuman
individualandthecommontypeinthatwhichcomprisestheirmeaningandinnerchar-
acter.[ł]Heoftenembodiedtheidealisingelementofhissoulinsubjectsincomparably
poorerincontent.”19
Gottlieb)sportraitsofyoungwomen,ofteninhistoricalororientalcostume,areof
particularinterestingatthistime(forexamplethoseofhissisterAnnainRenaissance,
SpanishorEasterncostume,CPortraitofLauraHenschel-Rosenfeld)(ill.32)andCPor-
18ThetermisusedbyH.StruveinKPrzeglądartystyczny’(KArtisticsurvey’),Kłosy,8Jan.1880,
no.758,p.19.
19B.Zawadzki:KSalonsztukpięknychp.Ungra’(KMr.Unger’ssalonoffinearts’),Wiek,29Nov.
1879,no.268,p.5.
56
paintingandsculpturebypolishjewsinthe19thandearly20thcenturies
