Reuven Rubin

Reuven Rubin in his studio, 1946

Galilean Hills, oil on canvas painting by Reuven Rubin

Reuven Rubin (Hebrew: ראובן רובין; November 13, 1893 - October 13, 1974) was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania.

Biography

He was and Artist that loved to paint.

Artistic career

The history of Israeli art began at a very specific moment in the history of international art, at a time of Cezannian rebellion against the conventions of the past, a time typified by rapid stylistic changes . Thus Jewish national art had no fixed history, no canon to obey. Rubin began his career at a fortunate time.

The painters who depicted the country’s landscapes in the 1920s rebelled against Bezalel. They sought current styles in Europe that would help portray their own country’s landscape, in keeping with the spirit of the time. Rubin’s Cezannesque landscapes from the 1920s were defined by both a modern and a naive style, portraying the landscape and inhabitants of Israel in a sensitive fashion. His landscape paintings in particular paid special detail to a spiritual, translucent light.

In Palestine, he became one of the founders of the new Eretz-Yisrael style. Recurring themes in his work were the biblical landscape, folklore and people, including Yemenite, Hasidic Jews and Arabs. Many of his paintings are sun-bathed depictions of Jerusalem and the Galilee. Rubin might have been influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau whose style combined with Eastern nuances, as well as with the neo-Byzantine art to which Rubin had been exposed in his native Romania. In accordance with his integrative style, he signed his works with his first name in Hebrew and his surname in Roman letters.

In 1924, he was the first artist to hold a solo exhibition at the Tower of David, in Jerusalem (later exhibited in Tel Aviv at Gymnasia Herzliya). That year he was elected chairman of the Association of Painters and Sculptors of Palestine. From the 1930s onwards, Rubin designed backdrops for Habima Theater, the Ohel Theater and other theaters.

His biography, published in 1969, is titled My Life - My Art. He died in Tel Aviv in October 1974, after having bequeathed his home on 14 Bialik Street and a core collection of his paintings to the city of Tel Aviv. The Rubin Museum opened in 1983. The director and curator of the museum is his daughter-in-law, Carmela Rubin. Rubin's paintings are now increasingly sought after. At a Sotheby's auction in New York in 2007, his work accounted for six of the ten top lots.

Diplomatic career

In 1948, he became the first official Israeli diplomatic envoy (minister) to Romania. He served in this position until 1950.

Awards and commemoration

• In 1964, Rubin received an "honorary award" of the Dizengoff Prize for Painting.
• In 1973, he was awarded the Israel Prize, for painting.

See also

• List of Israel Prize recipients

Further reading

• Dalia Manor, "The Dancing Jew and Other Characters: Art in the Jewish Settlement of Palestine during the 1920s", Journal of Modern Jewish Studies, 1(1), 2002, pp. 73–89.
• Dalia Manor, "Imagined Homeland: Landscape Painting in Palestine in the 1920s", Nations and Nationalism, 9 (4), 2003, pp. 533–554.
• Dalia Manor, 'Art in Zion: The Genesis of Modern National Art in Jewish Palestine, London & New York, Routledge, 2005, esp. chapters 6, 7.

External links

• Rubin Museum
• Reuven Rubin Catalogue Raisonne Project
• Rubin at the Art Cyclopaedia
• Reuven Rubin's "Goldfish Vendor" by Carmela Rubin
• Reuven Rubin from the Jewish Virtual Library