Nahum Gutman and Reuven Rubin

Nahum Gutman and Reuven Rubin: Early Israeli painters

“So what was the Orange Peel Path like?” “Which path?” asks the lad.

“Orange peel.”

“Which peel?”

“Orange.”

“Ah! You call it ‘the Orange Peel Path’?”

I tell him “yes,” and in my heart, I wonder how to explain that this was no ordinary path, that today it is more like a symbol for me.  A symbol of deeds that can and should be done.” – The Orange Peel Path; Adventures from the Early Days of Tel Aviv, by Nachum Gutman

Gutman and Rubin’s vision is as primitive as a child’s and evokes the rich world of fairytales. 

At the dawn of the 19th century, waves of Jewish pioneers started arriving in Palestine. Years before the Holocaust, the drive to resurrect an independent Jewish state became stronger as pogroms in Eastern Europe intensified the necessity for a safe haven. Upon arrival, the pioneers found a bare land and a hard life filled with natural, administrative, and financial obstacles. Things got much harder in the 1920s when the local Arab population became openly hostile and confrontational. Yet, those idealistic pioneers who were filled with the values of Zionism and hard work persevered and succeeded. Their vision of an independent state became a reality. Two prominent painters of this early Israeli history were Nahum Gutman and Reuven Rubin. 

Gutman and Rubin’s vision is as primitive as a child’s and evokes a rich fairytale world. Their paintings are filled with light, sunshine, and a sense of joy and innocence. Many paintings from the 1920-1930s depict a panoramic landscape with scenes from the country’s inhabitants’ daily lives. There is a sense of optimism and belonging to the land. Some critics say that the optimistic atmosphere reflected the pioneers’ spirit, who felt nothing would stand in their way.

Nahum Gutman

Nahum Gutman (1898 – 1980) was born in Romania, immigrated to Israel with his family at the age of 7, and settled in one of the first neighborhoods of Tel Aviv. The young boy saw the white houses of Tel Aviv, the sands, the sea, and the blue sky.

He later studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts, then, after WWI, studied painting in Vienna, Berlin, and Paris. In 1926, he returned to Israel and began painting the white houses of Tel Aviv, producing hundreds of paintings and drawings of his adopted city.

It is essential to note Gutman was not only a painter but also a writer (like his father before him), and his paintings often have a narrative element. He wrote and illustrated several children’s books.

In three paintings from 1926, “Lunch Rest,” “The Carrier of the Wheat,” and “Goat Shepherd,” Gutman depicted local Arabs at work or rest. The influence of both French primitive-naive and Expressionist styles is evident in the distorted shapes, sharp contrasts of color, and simplicity of composition. The characters are two-dimensional. All three paintings describe a solid connection to geography and the soil. The bodies are not soft or passive but sturdy and self-confident. 

I have read all sorts of analyses about the strong Arab figures’ meaning in Gutman’s paintings. Some suggest they evoke biblical figures of the past with a solid connection to the land. Others suggest that the depiction of the Arab’s physical strength, which runs counter to the slain and helpless diasporic Jew stereotype, was a model by which the new Jewish women and men would be formed. I think Nahum Gutman painted the land he saw through the spirit of his personality and the beauty and colors that excited his eyes.

Reuven Rubin

Reuven Rubin (1893-1974) was born in Romania, immigrated to Israel at the age of 19, and studied art at Bezalel in Jerusalem. Finding himself at odds with the artistic views of the Academy’s teachers, he left for Paris, where he became acquainted with the great artists of the Louvre Museum and met with the painters of that time – Chagall, Modigliani, Matisse, and Picasso. In 1922, Rubin returned to Israel and settled in Tel Aviv, where he painted for the rest of his life. Rubin described himself as a combination of an artist and a pioneer; painting, for him, was an act of love for the land and its people. 

Bezalel Academy of Arts

The Bezalel Academy of Arts was a breakthrough institution in the history of modern Israeli art. The Academy was founded in 1906 by the artist Boris Schatz. It introduced traditional European methods and art styles to the Mediterranean land of Palestine, where such institutions never existed before.

The Academy’s art and teaching style was heavily influenced by European trends of the time, often resembling Art Nouveau and other decorative styles of the 1890s. Two artists representing this style were: Ze’ev Raban and Ephraim Moses Lilien.

However, this approach did not sit well with the spirit of many of Bezalel’s student artists who sought a new style of art that was distinct “Israeli,” one that they felt related to their new lives in the new land. Thus, many of them left, and the school closed in 1929.

Nevertheless, the Academy re-opened in 1935 and has since become the prestigious art institute it is today. This revolt marked the first of many in the Israeli art canon, demonstrating the ever-evolving nature of artistic expression.

Shortly after his return to Israel, Rubin painted “Tel Aviv.” This painting shows Tel Aviv’s first houses and tents on bright white sand dunes with the sea on the horizon. It’s a modern style of painting. The clean, bright, bold color surfaces stand out in this work. The houses have no scaling element, which makes them look naive and childlike. The horizon is so high that it seems as if the whole landscape is rising.

In another painting from 1922, “Self Portrait with Flower,” Rubin reveals his character and self-image to me as a spiritual man. He sits in a white suit; behind him are the golden sands of Tel Aviv; in one hand, he holds brushes like a bouquet of flowers, and in the other, glass with a lily of the rose. His face and body are extended, similar to the extension found in El Greco’s and Modigliani’s paintings.

The lily has many meanings in art history: the six petals relate to the Star of David; in the Christian culture, the flower symbolizes purity and virginity. Mary, the mother of Jesus, is widely depicted with the flower beside her. Perhaps Rubin associated the flower with the virginity and innocence of Tel Aviv. Or maybe the flower symbolizes the Israeli paradise – the country’s reality in those days was difficult, and it was hidden behind the vegetation, trees, and flowers to create a utopian, stylish being.

Other notable Israeli painters of this period were: Sionah Tagger, Israel Paldi, Pinchas Litvinovsky, and Anna Ticho.

If one may ask, why did you include photos of my mother in this gallery? I will say it all starts with her.

May 2020