DOI Artikel:
Yass-Alston, Agnieszka: Maurycy Gottlieb - in search of identity
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.40996#0121
place in the world undergoing major transformation”.10 Unfortunately, Żebrowski s
three-page contribution of an abbreviated lesson on the history of Jews from the
i6th through i9th century does not connect much to Gottliebs identity status in the
society of Eastern Galicia, moreover he fails to set Gottlieb within the context of the
Jewish art community of the time. The author also describes how Gottliebs subject -
matter reflected associative cultural preferences of the time through such works as
Self-Portrait in Polish Gentry Attire11, without any reference to an art-historical or
societal analysis. Moreover, he follows with an erroneous and stereotypical sentence:
“Judaism strictly forbade artists to paint images of living creatures”.12 In a book by
Moshe Barasch, Icon: Studies in the History ofan Idea (New York, 1992), he explains
that the second commandment was directed against figuration used for idol worship,
not other types of artistic expression; it is well known that figurative representation
has been present in Jewish art sińce antiąuity. Regrettably Żebrowski s essay does
not shed any new light on Gottlieb within the contemporary discourse of Jewish
identity in the i9th century nor does his foray into stylistic analysis provide any
in-depth examination of Jewish fate in this context.
Next, there is a biographical essay titled: Maurycy Gottlieb - In Search of Identity.
The Artists Biographical Outline by Maria Milanowska, the curator of the exhibi-
tion. Maurycy s biographies have existed sińce 188813 yet this narrative seems to
be addressed to readers not familiar with the subject of modern Polish, Jewish or
even European art without a continuum from prior interpretations. Biographical
information is reąuired in any monograph, however no new data or interpreta-
tion is offered here. The bibliography to this essay does not include Larry Silver’s
Jewish Identity in Art and History: Maurycy Gottlieb as Early Jewish Artist (1999)14
which provides an excellent identity interpretation; Milanowska apparently did
not familiarize herself with the work. Silver smoothly connects the artists life and
work events resulting in a richly woven and satisfactory biography through the
prism of Jewish identity.
In contrast, the essay by Monika Czekanowska-Gutman: Drawing Inspiration
from History; Literaturę and the Bibie. Reflection on Selected Figures in the Works of
Maurycy Gottlieb illuminates the development in Gottliebs oeuvre through three
aspects. The first is titled, Common History, where she demonstrates Gottlieb as
a painter of historical themes. Listing his artworks, Czekanowska-Gutman discusses
10 R. Żebrowski, Jewish Identity and Fate, in: Maurycy Gottlieb. In Search of Identity, p. 21.
11 The picture was painted in 1874, present whereabouts unknown; Wiesenberg provided initial
ownerships history (J.Wiesenberg, Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879), Szkic biograficzny, Złoczów
1888, p. 16).
12 Ibidem, p. 25; for further reading on this subject please see: K.R Bland, The Artless Jew: Medieval
and Modern Affirmation and Denials ofthe Visual, University of Princeton Press 2000; M. Olin,
The Nation without Art: Examining Modern Discourse on Jewish Art, University of Nebraska
Press 2007.
13 Jonasz Wiesenberg (1888), Henryk Struve (1903), Jean Topas (1930), Mojżesz Waldman, Aurelia
Gottlieb, Władysław Terlecki (1932), Karol Winkler (1949), Józef Sandel (1953), Zofia Sołtysowa
(1977), Jerzy Malinowski, Nehama Guralnik (1991), Reanta Piątkowska (1991), Jerzy Malinowski
(1997), Larry Silver (1999), Ezra Mendelsohn (2002)- only to mention few, for the best bibli-
ography on biographical works about Maurycy Gottlieb see publications by: N. Guralnik, In
the Flower of Youth and E. Mendelsohn, Painting a People: Maurycy Gottlieb and Jewish Art,
Brandeis 2002.
14 L. Silver, Jewish Identity in Art History: Maurycy Gottlieb as Early Jewish Artist, in: Jewish Identi-
ties in Modern Art History, ed. C. Soussloff, University of California Press 1999, pp. 87-113.
Maurycy Gottlieb. In Search of Identity
119
three-page contribution of an abbreviated lesson on the history of Jews from the
i6th through i9th century does not connect much to Gottliebs identity status in the
society of Eastern Galicia, moreover he fails to set Gottlieb within the context of the
Jewish art community of the time. The author also describes how Gottliebs subject -
matter reflected associative cultural preferences of the time through such works as
Self-Portrait in Polish Gentry Attire11, without any reference to an art-historical or
societal analysis. Moreover, he follows with an erroneous and stereotypical sentence:
“Judaism strictly forbade artists to paint images of living creatures”.12 In a book by
Moshe Barasch, Icon: Studies in the History ofan Idea (New York, 1992), he explains
that the second commandment was directed against figuration used for idol worship,
not other types of artistic expression; it is well known that figurative representation
has been present in Jewish art sińce antiąuity. Regrettably Żebrowski s essay does
not shed any new light on Gottlieb within the contemporary discourse of Jewish
identity in the i9th century nor does his foray into stylistic analysis provide any
in-depth examination of Jewish fate in this context.
Next, there is a biographical essay titled: Maurycy Gottlieb - In Search of Identity.
The Artists Biographical Outline by Maria Milanowska, the curator of the exhibi-
tion. Maurycy s biographies have existed sińce 188813 yet this narrative seems to
be addressed to readers not familiar with the subject of modern Polish, Jewish or
even European art without a continuum from prior interpretations. Biographical
information is reąuired in any monograph, however no new data or interpreta-
tion is offered here. The bibliography to this essay does not include Larry Silver’s
Jewish Identity in Art and History: Maurycy Gottlieb as Early Jewish Artist (1999)14
which provides an excellent identity interpretation; Milanowska apparently did
not familiarize herself with the work. Silver smoothly connects the artists life and
work events resulting in a richly woven and satisfactory biography through the
prism of Jewish identity.
In contrast, the essay by Monika Czekanowska-Gutman: Drawing Inspiration
from History; Literaturę and the Bibie. Reflection on Selected Figures in the Works of
Maurycy Gottlieb illuminates the development in Gottliebs oeuvre through three
aspects. The first is titled, Common History, where she demonstrates Gottlieb as
a painter of historical themes. Listing his artworks, Czekanowska-Gutman discusses
10 R. Żebrowski, Jewish Identity and Fate, in: Maurycy Gottlieb. In Search of Identity, p. 21.
11 The picture was painted in 1874, present whereabouts unknown; Wiesenberg provided initial
ownerships history (J.Wiesenberg, Maurycy Gottlieb (1856-1879), Szkic biograficzny, Złoczów
1888, p. 16).
12 Ibidem, p. 25; for further reading on this subject please see: K.R Bland, The Artless Jew: Medieval
and Modern Affirmation and Denials ofthe Visual, University of Princeton Press 2000; M. Olin,
The Nation without Art: Examining Modern Discourse on Jewish Art, University of Nebraska
Press 2007.
13 Jonasz Wiesenberg (1888), Henryk Struve (1903), Jean Topas (1930), Mojżesz Waldman, Aurelia
Gottlieb, Władysław Terlecki (1932), Karol Winkler (1949), Józef Sandel (1953), Zofia Sołtysowa
(1977), Jerzy Malinowski, Nehama Guralnik (1991), Reanta Piątkowska (1991), Jerzy Malinowski
(1997), Larry Silver (1999), Ezra Mendelsohn (2002)- only to mention few, for the best bibli-
ography on biographical works about Maurycy Gottlieb see publications by: N. Guralnik, In
the Flower of Youth and E. Mendelsohn, Painting a People: Maurycy Gottlieb and Jewish Art,
Brandeis 2002.
14 L. Silver, Jewish Identity in Art History: Maurycy Gottlieb as Early Jewish Artist, in: Jewish Identi-
ties in Modern Art History, ed. C. Soussloff, University of California Press 1999, pp. 87-113.
Maurycy Gottlieb. In Search of Identity
119