Reuven Rubin - The G-d Seekers - twelve original signed woodcuts. Eretz Israel, 1923 - the first and rare edition

Reuven Rubin - The G-d Seekers - twelve original signed woodcuts. Eretz Israel, 1923 - the first and rare edition

Reuven Rubin [1893-1974] - The G-d Seekers - 12 original wood carvings, all signed in pencil by Rubin. Eretz Yisrael, 1923 - limited first edition which came out in only 100 copies! Before us 91/100 copy. Original cardboard box. The woodcuts are all protected with thin paper. One of Robin's early, important, and rare works.

"The G-d Seekers" is an album of woodblock prints created by Reuven Rubin in 1923. The dozen prints show images that combine the mystical Jewish tradition and the landscapes of Eretz Israel during the Third Aliyah period on the topics of 'The Burning Bush', 'Praying on the Mountain', 'Lag Ba'Omer in Miron' , 'Kdush Levana', 'Self-portrait' (Robin's self-portrait), etc. The titles of the folder are in Hebrew and English from two sides.

Rubin created the woodcuts in the "HaPoel HaTzair" print. The size of the pages is 37x55 cm, but the print size is not the same in all of the editions. In the edition before us, the print size is 22x28 cm. You can usually find single prints from this edition, or missing editions, before us is the complete first edition!

Some of the subjects and images in the prints, such as 'Lag Ba'Omer in Miron' and his self-portrait, also appeared in Rubin's oil paintings in these years. The images express a mental-spiritual array of longing and religious longing, experiences of sacrifice and celibacy in the religious and biblical context, and alongside them a statement about relationship and family. In February 1924, Rubin sent a copy of the album as a gift to High Commissioner Herbert Samuel, probably in connection with the only exhibition held as part of the "Hebrew Artists Association " at the Tower of David, where the series of prints was also exhibited. The album was returned to Reuven claiming that the commissioner did not "seem any sympathy for this school of art." Later, Gabriel Talfir defined this work of Rubin's that the woodcuts express the national revival and that "the request of G-d in that period of time expressed the longing The messiah that brought masses of youth to return to the roots of the homeland."

In the mid-sixties of the 20th century, Galeria Bint, in collaboration with Reuven, published an orderly, signed and numbered album of the of the woodcuts containing 10 of the 12 prints. Before us, as mentioned, is the first and rare original edition.

Shraga Brown in-depth analysis this work compared to the rest of Rubin's works. see here

Good condition. Slight stains on the cardboard cover. The white margins of the boards are slightly brown. General condition good - very good.