For Passover 2022, we present some pages from a Haggadah with illustrations by the Lithuanian-born American graphic artist Ben Shahn (1898-1969) published in Boston by Little, Brown and Co. in 1965. Shahn originally created eleven of the twelve full-page color plates for this Haggadah over the course of six months circa 1930. The illustrations, like those executed for his secular works, highlight the struggle against oppression, a theme central to the story of Passover. The figures depicted were modeled after the Jews of Djerba, whom Shahn had encountered during a year-long journey through North Africa.
After an unsuccessful attempt to print the Haggadah in color, Shahn sold the plates which eventually entered the collection of The Jewish Museum in New York. Nevertheless, in 1958 Shahn met Arnold Fawcus, proprietor of the Paris-based fine-press facsimile publisher Trianon Press, and the two agreed to seeing the Haggadah project through to completion. Shahn produced a twelfth illustration, added ten drawings for the scenes of the popular children’s Passover song Had Gadya (An Only Kid), and designed a frontispiece and title page, while Fawcus commissioned British scholar Cecil Roth to compose an introduction and notes, and reuse Roth’s own 1934 translation of the Haggadah text. The Trianon Press production was produced as a deluxe limited edition of 228 copies signed by Shahn. Our Little, Brown copy is a trade edition of the Trianon production, and is a monument to the skill of one of the twentieth century’s most famous Jewish artists.
the benefits of this are many, including having one place that can direct you to all the various spots on the web where you can see/buy my work (there are quite a few now, and this tumblr is by far the least active)
again, if you’d like to keep up with my most recent art, my twitter is where it’s at. if you send me messages here, I almost certainly won’t see them!
thanks everyone for all your support on here over the years - if something big changes with this website, I may continue to post in the future, but I’m not holding my breath.
anyway, here’s a little angel (created for one of the lovely backers of the Heartwood Anthology by @powerandmagic) for you to follow to my new digs.
haven’t been on tumblr in a long time (find me here) but i’m proud enough of this to come back & share it here too. thinking about making prints - if/when i do, they’ll be available on Six of Hands. sending strength & solidarity to my Jewish community, especially my fellow queer & trans Jews, & love to anti-fascists of all kinds fighting for our lives.
ETA: fixed a wrong letter in the Yiddish - thanks twitter folk! people are asking for shirts so i’ll see what my options are - i’d love to do real screen printing but if i can’t get that worked out i can always put it on my redbubble.
Are you shopping for gifts and want to support small indie creators, one-woman businesses, etc.? We’d like to show you what we have to offer!
Shira is selling the Knit One Girl Two and other stories collection in paperback for $9.99 ($3 pdf here). At this price it would make a great present for someone craving positivity and light in their wlw fiction reading—especially as a Chanukah gift because most of the main characters are Jewish. This large-print book includes three sapphic comfort reads about women falling in love with each other while reconnecting with their creative hobbies—art, music, even dyeing yarn. Speaking of which…
Caitlin is selling her hand-dyed sock yarn (you can also use it for hats and mittens and shawls!) that stripes all on its own. The color pictured here is called “North Pole”, and it comes in a few choices of base yarn. One skein is enough to make something really cool. The 3-D printed peacock box is here, and inside are compartments perfect for storing your supplies like darning needle, measuring tape etc. There are other boxes on the site too, and she also sells beautiful stitch markers that would make a great inexpensive present if you have a knitter in your life but need to spend only a little bit.
If you’ve already read Knit One Girl Two and would like to help signal-boost, reblogs are appreciated <3 (The other two stories in the collection are Fearless and “Your Name is Love”, a sample of the Mangoverse.)
Here’s a picture of Ambrose in a tub of stuffed animals if that helps
I’m not really big on luck of superstition, but I’ve grown up seeing the Hamsa used as a symbol for luck and protection. The orientation of the hand (facing up vs. facing down) is significant. Facing up signifies the warding off of evil and bad luck; a sign of protection. The 18 petals of the flowers also are meant to represent to the number 18 (chai) which translates to “life” and typically signifies good luck!
The RefugeebyFelix Nussbaum (1904-1944, born in Germany, murdered in Auschwitz), 1939, Oil on canvas, 61 x 76 cm, Yad Vashem Art Collection, Jerusalem.
Rothko chapel interior, By Mark Rothko (American, born in Latvia, 1903 – 1970) 1964-1971
TheRothko Chapel in a non denominational chapel in Houston, Texas. and host activities about spirituality and contemporary dialogs.
It was founded by John and Dominique de Menil. The building was designed by the architects Philip Johnson, Howard Barnstone, and Eugene Aubry.
Outside the chapel you can see Barnett Newman’s sculpture ‘Broken Obelisk’ that was dedicated to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
In 1964 Rothko was commissioned the 14 murals and was highly involved in the design of the space. The chapel was completed 1971, not long after Rothko’s death by suicide.
