Aronson Learning Pack - Ben Uri gallery website

Boris Aronson
and the Avant-garde Theatre
c. 1917-1929, Kiev to New York
Teachers’ Notes
Boris Aronson and the Avant-garde Yiddish Theatre, c. 1917 - 1929 comes to the UK for the first time
after being conceived by Galerie Le Minotaure, Paris and Tel Aviv, in 2012.
The exhibition features the avant-garde costume and theatre designs of Ukrainian-born Jewish
émigré painter, sculptor, set designer, theorist and art critic Boris Aronson (1898 - 1980) - a pioneer
at the forefront of the international Modernist movement.
The exhibition comprises more than 50 rare, original and little-known works on paper from
Aronson’s early career together with a small number of works by his peers: Natan Altman (1889
- 1970), Isaak Brodsky (1884 - 1930), Marc Chagall (1887 - 1985), Alexandra Exter (1882 - 1949),
Issachar Ber Ryback (1897 - 1935) and Pavel Tchelitchew (1898 - 1957).
It also includes photographs, books and other related ephemera.
Who was Boris Aronson?
Boris (Borukh) Solomon Aronson was born in 1898 in Nezhin in the
Ukraine. He grew up in Kiev where his father was appointed Chief
Rabbi., which meant that Aronson had access to a broad education.
He was an artistic child and was always drawing his friends at school.
One day he drew a picture of a fly on to the Rabbi’s book when he
left the room. When the Rabbi returned, he tried to swat the fly
away. He then realised that it was just a drawing. Aronson did not
get into trouble for playing the trick; instead the Rabbi was very
impressed with his talent for drawing.
Boris Aronson
Self-portrait
c. 1920
Pencil on paper
This event was important for Aronson as he realised that people
prized naturalism (or realistic) drawings.
This portrait is very significant, as it shows Aronson’s
distinctive arched eyebrows, and a dancing figure in the right
hand corner which indicates his future costume design work.
It shows many of the influences on Aronson’s work, such as the
naturalism of the portrait. The sharp lines on the face show the
influence of Russian constructivism, the grids and architectural
background which again show the influences of constructivism
and are presented like a stage set design and finally the
depiction of the Tallit, the Jewish prayer shawl, which reflects
his Jewish heritage.
Aronson went on to study at Kiev Art School from 1912 - 16. At art school he had an influential teacher who had
studied in Paris and been exposed to avant-garde ideas such as Cubism.
Aronson lived in Russia during and after the Russian Revolution (1917). During this time many Jewish communities
had been forced to move out of the shtetls (small traditional villages) and into the towns and cities of Russia and
Eastern Europe. Many of the Russian Jewish artists were very influenced by the Russian folk and Jewish art traditions.
The artists wanted to record and memorise the ‘traditional’ art, such as the paintings found in old synagogues and the
carvings on graves in Jewish cemeteries for example, but they were also keen to establish a new Jewish Yiddish art
and culture. Aronson co-founded and subsequently led the Kultur-Lige (Culture League), an organisation dedicated to
the promotion of Jewish culture. Aronson was part of the new ‘avant-garde’ in Russian art. The art was a mixture of
the traditional and the new (showing influences of, and influencing, Modernism, Cubism and Constructivism).
Sketch for cover design of a book
The picture ‘Sketch for cover design of a book’ is very
significant as it could be said to represent Aronson’s
émigré journey.
The picture shows Naum Gabo’s Constructivist head,
next to the fashionable female figure in 1920’s dress,
who looks like she is from New York or Berlin, the
famous Roman Bust of the goddess Clytie and a Cubistinfluenced modern head, set against a backdrop of
modern interior and exterior designs.
We can also see details of buildings that evoke the high
rises and new architecture of Berlin and New York and
the funnel shapes in the lower left hand corner could
evoke Constructivist towers, but also the funnels of the
ships on which the émigrés travelled.
Boris Aronson
Sketch for cover design of a book
1920s
Watercolour and India ink on cardboard
Aronson moved from Russia via Berlin and Paris, and eventually on to New York. Along the way he met a number of
very important artists such as Marc Chagall.
Aronson arrived in New York in 1923 with (in his own words) ‘some drawings, two books, a pair of socks, a
membership in a union of German artists, paintbrushes, crowded emotions, little money, and less English’, but his
status as a writer of art publications helped him to obtain an immigration visa. Knowing little English, he first found
work within the local Jewish art scene, where he could speak Yiddish and Russian. His early commissions included
book illustrations, but New York theatre was at that time, entering a period of renewal - its ‘second Golden Age’ and Aronson became the leading designer for the city’s Jewish theatres.
His styles of set and costume design were very different from those that had previously existed and as a result his
work also influenced a great number of other artists, designers and film makers. Aronson worked on a number of
successful theatre productions, such as the ones shown in this exhibition.
Aronson was a very important artist. From the start of his career in a small studio in Moscow, he went on to become
a famous and well respected theatre designer on Broadway in New York. During his career he received 8 Tony awards
and was nominated for 6 others (the Tony awards can be seen as the theatre world’s Oscar equivalent).
Aronson’s most famous production was ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ (1964) He also went on to work on major productions
such as ‘Cabaret’ and play with Arthur Miller.
Aronson died in 1980 in New York at 82 years old.
Key Words
Rabbi, Naturalism, Avante-garde, Cubism, shtetl, Modernism, Constructivism, self-portrait
Terms Explained
What is Yiddish Theatre?
Yiddish Theatre is the type of theatre which was introduced by Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe in
the late 19th century, to central Europe and the United States.Yiddish Theatre blossomed in the areas of
Eastern and East Central Europe, Berlin, Paris, London and New York. The plays were performed in Yiddish
and were often based on Yiddish folk tales, Shakespeare adaptations and stories of immigrant life.
What is Unzer Theatre?
An experimental theatre company (translates as ‘Our Theatre’ company) in the Bronx, New York during the
1920’s. Aronson’s murals were permanent fixtures of the theatres, with huge figures on the walls alongside
the seats, which depicted the evolution of Yiddish theatre and created an atmosphere of excitement.
In 1925, the Romanian-Jewish actor Rudloph Schildkraut (1862 - 1930), who had made his name on the
Austrian and German stage before emigrating to New York in 1920, took charge of ‘Unzer Teater’, and
changed its name (in Yiddish) to the ‘Schildkroyt-teater’.
How does a set or costume designer work?
Set designers create the designs for the scenery in the play. They also have to consider things like lighting.
Aronson also designed many of the costumes for the productions, which contributed to the overall ‘look’ of
the show.
Activists
People who actively
engage in political or
social campaigning
Cubo-Futurism
An art movement that
combines the abstract,
geometrical shapes
of cubism with the
movement and growth
of objects seen in
Futurism.
Avant-Garde
Artists and artworks
that pioneer new
movements in art by
challenging accepted
standards
Hasidic
Hasidism is a branch
of Orthodox Judaism
defined by devotion
to religious study and
wearing of distinctive,
traditional clothing.
Civil War
Constructivism
A war or conflict, of
which the two sides are
both inhabitants of the
same country or state
An art movement
which started in
Moscow in the 1920s.
The Constructivists
embraced industrial
materials and mechanical
structures.
Kultur-Lige
Manifesto
(Culture League) an
organisation dedicated
to the promotion of
Jewish culture.
Yiddish
Modernism
Oyfgang
Art that rejects
traditional methods of
making, embracing new
materials and abstract
ideas.
(Paths of Jewish Painting)
Progressive Jewish
Journal
“Yiddish” is the name
of the language used by
Jewish people in Europe
and America. It is a mix
of German and Hebrew,
and was originally
written in Hebrew
characters.
A written or spoken
public statement or
declaration
Day and Night
Day and Night was based on S. An-sky’s
dramatic poem Day and Night.
S. An-sky was a Russian Jewish writer who
travelled between the Jewish shtetls in Russia
and the Ukraine documenting the folk beliefs
and stories of the Hasidic Jews and turning
them into poems and plays.
The Bronx Express
Aronson created the stage design for the production of ‘Bronx Express’ by the Russian émigré playwright
Osip Dymov (1878–1959), who also acted as assistant director, with Aronson as co-director. The plot
centres on an émigré button-maker who falls asleep on the New York subway and finds memories of his
Eastern-European past merging strangely with the realities of his new American life.
For the staging of the play Aronson designed the interior of a subway car, which could be alternately
transformed into a rich palace
or a humble apartment, while
his inventive costumes showed
characters emerging from the
adverts which plastered the
subway car’s walls. Here, although
the button-maker dreams of a
beach resort, the ceiling of the
subway car, where he is dreaming,
can still be glimpsed.
Although the play was criticised
for its shortcomings, Aronson’s
dramatic designs were praised
for helping to overcome its
imperfections.
Key Words
folk, Hasidic, adaptation, dreams, daydreams, inside/outside, interactive, adverts, émigré
The Tenth Commandment
The Tenth Commandment (1926) was a musical production. It opened the Yiddish Art Theatre’s
1926 season of performances. It had incredible sets and costumes and an all-star cast. There were a
total of were 25 scene changes and 360 costume changes!
The plot of the play follows the struggle between good and evil, embodied in the two main
characters: the religiously devout Hasidic Jew Peretz, from Nemirov, and his business associate, the
secularised Ludwig, from cosmopolitan Berlin. The ‘evil angel’ Achitofel, influences the two main
characters to break the tenth commandment and become jealous of each other’s lives. The tenth
commandment is ‘thou shalt not covet’.
Aronson’s extraordinary set included a little house in the woods
that opened up to reveal its interior, anticipating his later designs
for Fiddler on the Roof (1964). The most celebrated design was for
a vision of hell which was based on a sweatshop set inside a man’s
brain, while heaven was conceived as a theatre full of private boxes.
Aronson’s castle scene includes a two-storey staircase and turrets,
on the stage!
The set for ‘Hell’ included a fireman’s pole in the middle of
the stage. The actors would repeatedly slide down the pole
to give a feeling of movement and action. There was much
movement on Aronson’s stages, with moving and changing
sets which were visible to the audience. This is very different
to the traditional stages in theatres, which relied on curtains
dropping for set changes and very static backgrounds.
Audiences would have been very excited by Aronson’s new
ideas.
Key Words
Hasidic, secularised, cosmopolitan
The Golem
The Golem is a famous figure in Yiddish literature.
The play was adapted from H. Leivick’s dramatic eight-scene poem, which
follows the creation and animation of a man (the Golem) from inanimate
material (clay) by a sixteenth-century Prague Rabbi in an attempt to defend
the city’s Jewish community from harm. However, the project was ultimately
unrealised (the production did not take place).
The fiddler character (from Fiddler in the Roof) is another famous character in
Yiddish literature, and the figure of the fiddler is frequently found in works by
Marc Chagall.
Stempenyu, The Fiddler
Aronson’s notable designs for ‘Stempenyu, The
Fiddler’ (1929), based on the stories of Sholem
Aleichem, included a revolving stage.
This anticipated his own, later celebrated
production of Fiddler on the Roof (1964), inspired
by Chagall’s 1920 Moscow mural designs.
The set was novel for the Yiddish Theatre because
the curtain was not lowered during the many
changes of scene. Instead, the revolving stage had
scenery painted on both sides, which were then
rotated to show a Russian town on one side, the
interior of a house on the other.
Key Words
inanimate, fiddler, revolving, interior
Paths of Jewish Painting
Aronson’s Contemporaries
This room shows the work of the Russian Jewish artists
working around the same time as Aronson and who
influenced his own work.
Natan Altman (1889 - 1970)
The costume design shown in this exhibition was for a film which explains the
‘realistic’ style of the illustration. Altman’s work was usually very inventive.
Russian painter, sculptor, stage-designer and graphic artist, Natan Altman was born
in Vinnitsa, Ukraine. He studied at the Odessa School of Art (1901 - 7) and at the
Académie Russe in Paris (1910 - 12), where he produced works on Jewish themes
and was influenced by Cubism.
He later moved to La Ruche where he met Chagall and Soutine.
Altman returned to Vinnitsa in 1911 and lived in St Petersburg from 1912,
producing his first stage design in 1916 and teaching at the Department of Visual
Arts in Petrograd (1918 - 21), as well as illustrating books. In 1921–2 he designed
sets for the Jewish Kamerny Theatre in Moscow and exhibited at the Jewish
Cultural League with Chagall and David Sterenberg.
He lived in Berlin from 1922–4 and also exhibited in the First Russian Exhibition,
publishing his own book on Jewish Graphics in 1923. He returned to the Jewish
Kamerny Theatre from 1925 - 27, also designing for the cinema, and painting. In
1928 he returned to Paris, before finally settling in St Petersburg (Leningrad) in
1935.
Natan Altman
Costume design for Jewish Luck
Gouache on paper
Isaak Brodsky (1884 - 1930)
Painter, graphic artist and collector Isaak Brodsky was born in the
Zaporozhe region of Ukraine and attended the School of Art in Odessa
(1896 - 1902) and the St Petersburg Academy of Arts (1902 - 08), where his
tutors included Ilya Repin, who greatly influenced him. Brodsky became wellknown as a political caricaturist and painter during the revolutionary years
1905 - 07.
He illustrated various journals, and exhibited widely from 1907 onwards,
with (among others) the Union of Russian Artists (1907 - 18) and the
Munich International Exhibition (1913), where he won a gold medal. From
1909 - 11, he worked in Germany, France, Italy, Spain and Austria on an
Academy scholarship.
In 1917 Brodsky drew a series of portraits of the members of the
Provisional Government, winning first prize in the ‘Great Russian Revolution’
competition for his painting of Lenin (1919). Brodsky based many works
around the October Revolution and its leaders, particularly Lenin and
Stalin, which were often used as historical illustrations, and he was closely
associated with the heyday of Socialist Realism. He was appointed Director
of the Russian Academy of Artists in Leningrad from 1934 - 39.
Isaak Brodsky
Stage Design
c.1920
Mixed media on paper
Marc Chagall (1887-1995)
Chagall was born in 1887 in the town of Vitebsk, Russia (now known as
Belarus). Like Aronson, Chagall also left Russia and travelled to Paris. He
returned to Russia to visit his family but the outbreak of the First World
War prevented his return to Paris. He finally returned to Paris in 1923
and became a French citizen in 1937.
Chagall frequently used animals for symbolic purposes in his works,
creating dream-like paintings that brought together aspects of Russian
folklore and French traditions. During the Second World War, Chagall
sought refuge in New York where a major retrospective of his work was
held at the Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) in 1946. He later returned
to France where he stayed, producing stained glass window designs for
churches in France and the UK. He died in France in 1985.
Chagall’s first oil version of ‘Praying Jew’ was executed in 1914, modeled
on an old beggar who wandered into his mother’s shop in Vitebsk.
This figure, wrapped in Chagall’s father’s prayer shawl, was the most
overtly religious of the series and remained a favourite of Chagall’s. Its
combination of a largely realistically painted Jewish subject set against
an abstract background, was immediately acclaimed when first exhibited
in the “Year 1915” exhibition in Moscow. It combines 3 elements which
were seen as very influential, the depiction of a religious subject, the
realistic portrayal of the face, and the abstract background and pattern
design of the tallit (prayer shawl).
Marc Chagall
Le Rabbin (aka Praying Jew or Jew in Black and
White)
c. 1920 - 23
Colour etching on Japanese paper
Alexandra Exter (1882 - 1949)
The back of this piece by Exter is actually covered in exhibition
labels, which indicates how many times this work has been
displayed. This work is different to Exter’s usual work which is
usually very colourful and humorous. Exter was a powerful figure
who influenced many other artists and designers. This character is
a female character and is a costume design.
Born in Belostok, near Kiev, Exter attended the Kiev School
of Art, graduating in 1907 and marrying Nikolai Exter. In 1908
she first visited France, studying at the Académie de la Grande
Chaumière and mixing with Cubists including Picasso, Braque,
Delaunay, Léger, Max Jacob, and Apollinaire.
She also exhibited extensively with her Russian peers in St.
Petersburg, Kiev, Odessa, Riga, and Moscow. During the First
World War, Exter lived, worked and exhibited in Russia. Around
1915, she began designing radical sets, and later, costumes for the
theatre. She taught textiles at the Free Art Studio in Moscow c.
1918, and also held workshops from her studio from 1918 - 20. In
1924, she officially immigrated to France; an active exhibitor, she
also taught privately and at Léger’s Academy of Contemporary
Art. In 1928, Exter moved to the commune Fontenay-aux Roses
in the south-west Paris, where she remained for the rest of her
life.
Alexandra Exter
Costume design for the film
‘The Daughter of Helios’
c. 1927
Gouache on paper
Issachar Ber Ryback (1897-1935)
Issachar Ryback was born into a Hasidic family in Kirovohrad, Russia (now
Ukraine) and he studied art in Moscow. After the 1917 Russian Revolution
he was part of a significant national Jewish art movement based on ghetto
folk art, Jewish popular traditions and humour. Along with El Lissitsky, he was
commissioned by the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic society to travel
around the small towns of present day Ukraine and Belarus, copying paintings
in wooden synagogues and carved gravestones in Jewish cemeteries.
This trip began Ryback’s sustained interest in Jewish folk art. He experimented
with Expressionism and Cubism and completed an important series of
lithographs depicting Jewish shtetl life. He worked as a designer for the
Moscow theatre before settling in Paris where his style became more
romantic. Ryback died in Paris in 1935.
Issachar Ber Ryback
Woman in Violet
c. 1925
Watercolour on paper
Pavel Tchelitchew (1898 - 1957)
Moscow-born Pavel Tchelitchew studied in Kiev at
the Academy and with Alexandra Exter’s workshop
from 1918 - 19, immigrating to Berlin in 1920, where
he worked as a theatrical designer from 1921 - 23. He
settled in Paris from 1923 - 34 exhibiting at the Salon
d’Autumne (1925), Galerie Druet (1926), and holding
a solo exhibition at Galerie Pierre (1929). In 1928
he designed Diaghilev’s production of Odes for the
Théâtre Sarah-Bernhardt. He moved to New York in
1934, abandoning stage design in 1942 to concentrate
on painting, and became an American citizen in 1952.
Pavel Tchelitchew
Costume Design
c.1921
Gouache on paper
Timeline
1898 15 October: Aronson was born in Nezhin in the Chernigov province of the Russian Empire
(now Ukraine)
1903 Aronson and his family move to Kiev where his father, Shlomo Aronson (1863 -1935), is appointed Chief Rabbi
1905 Revolution: public strikes and demonstrations occur throughout Russia, including revolt within the armed forces
October: As a result of revolutionary pressure, Tsar Nicholas II signs the October Manifesto, outlining the instatement of the first democratically elected Parliament (the Duma)
Nahum Zemach founds the Habimah Theatre in Moscow
1906 March: first legislative elections for the Duma
1909 Sergei Diaghilev founds Ballets Russes (Russian Ballet)
1912 Aronson begins studies at the Kiev Art School, graduating in 1916
1913 Vladimir Tatlin accredited with the founding of the Constructivist art movement
1914 28 July: First World War begins
1917 February Revolution: Tsar Nicholas is forced to abdicate and a provisional government assumes power
Russian Jews become legally emancipated, thus acknowledged as equal citizens
17 July Tsar Nicholas II and his family are murdered
October Revolution: The Bolsheviks, a minority group of communists, led by Vladimir Lenin, overthrow the provisional government and declare a Soviet republic
Ukrainian National Republic declares independence from Russian Empire
1918
Creation of the first constitution by the Bolshevik government, establishing the basic rights of all citizens
Formation of the Kiev Kultur-Lige, an organisation dedicated to the promotion of Yiddish culture
Aronson begins attending art workshops of Alexandra Exter in Kiev, becoming Exter’s assistant in the creation of set designs for the Moscow Theatre’s production of Romeo and Juliet (conceived in 1918, but realized in 1920 - 21)
11 November: official end of The First World War
1919
4 February: The Red Army enters Kiev
1920
February to March: the Art Section of the Kultur-Lige, Kiev organises the Jewish Exhibition of Sculpture, Graphics, and Drawing. Aronson is Head of the Exhibitions Committee and co-
authors the catalogue introduction. Aronson also exhibits two works within the exhibition (both believed to be lost or destroyed)
1921
Museum of the Plastic Arts opens under Kultur-Lige. Aronson works at the Museum, which has a special section of ‘Jewish primitives’, possibly as a director
The Jewish Chamber Theatre relocates from Petrograd to Moscow, and becomes known as the Kamerny and the Yiddish State Theatre. Exter who designs for the Kamerny between 1916 and 1921, invites Aronson to assist her
Autumn: Aronson moves to Moscow, where he resides for almost a year, maintaining contact with the local Kultur-Lige, working with Exter and meeting Chagall
1922
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) is established
The Association of Artists of Revolutionary Russia (AKhRR) is formed
The Moscow Kultur-Lige organises an exhibition of works by Chagall, Altman, and Sterenberg
Aronson leaves Russia and moves to Berlin (Naum Gabo and his brother Antoine Pevsner also leave Russia, as do Chagall and Ryback, who also spend time in Berlin)
Aronson works in the studio of engraver Hermann Struck and exhibits at the First Russian Art Exhibition at Galerie Van Diemen in Berlin, an extensive exhibition (593 exhibits) including work by Archipenko, Altman, Chagall, Exter, Gabo, Malevich and Tatlin among others, designed to introduce Constructivism to the West
1923
April: The Jewish Theatre Society is organised
November: Aronson immigrates to New York; he immediately begins collaboration with the Jewish Theatre Society
1924
Aronson creates the “art decoration” for a ball organised by the Jewish Theatre Society, and authors an article published in the society’s magazine Tealit (“Theatre and Literature”)
December: The Jewish Theatre Society opens Unzer Teater (Our Theatre Company), an intimate, experimental theatre in the Bronx, New York. Aronson acts as the main stage designer for two out of the three productions including designing the set and costumes for Day and Night
1925
Actor Rudolph Schildkraut (1862 - 1930) takes over the Unzer Teater, renaming it (in Yiddish) Schildkroyt-teater
Aronson designs sets and costumes for the Unzer Teater production The Final Balance, and the Schildkroyt Theatre’s The Bronx Express
Aronson designs sets and costumes for the Yiddish Art Theatre’s (Second Avenue Theatre) The Tenth Commandment by A. Goldfaden, starring Maurice Schwartz and Joseph Buloff, directed by Schwartz; ballet directed by Michel Fokine. This is his first collaboration with Schwartz and it is widely regarded as their masterpiece
1927
Aronson designs sets and costumes for four plays including the Irving Place Theatre’s The Tragedy of Nothing
Aronson holds his first solo exhibition of stage and costume designs at Anderson Galleries, New York
1928
The art critic Waldemar George publishes a book on Aronson’s theatre designs in Paris
Aronson designs sets and costumes for the Yiddish Art Theatre’s The Golem and Stempenyu, The Fiddler
1932
Leaves Yiddish theatre and begins working on Broadway with Vernon Duke and Yip Harburg’s Walk a Little Faster
1935 - 39
Creates several productions for the Group Theatre, including Irwin Shaw’s The Gentle People, which is considered Aronson’s breakthrough
1943
Lisa Jalowetz becomes his assistant
1945
Marries Lisa Jalowetz and they continue to work together for the rest of his career
1950
Creates sets and lighting for Season in the Sun and The Country Girl and sets for The Rose Tattoo (winner of 1951 Tony Award)
Creates sets for The Crucible, the first of his six designs for Arthur Miller plays
1955
Creates sets for productions including the long-running The Diary of Anne Frank (nominated for 1956 Tony Award)
1964
Designs set for Fiddler on the Roof (nominated for 1965 Tony Award), which marks the beginning of his commercial success and his association with producer-director Harold Prince
1966
Designs set for Cabaret (wins 1967 Tony Award)
1968
Designs set for Zorba (wins 1969 Tony Award)
1970
Designs set for Company (winner of 1971 Tony Award)
1971
Designs set for Follies (winner of 1972 Tony Award)
1976
Designs set for Pacific Overtures (winner of 1976 Tony Award)
1977
Works on final production: a set for Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker for Mikhail Baryshnikov
1980
16 November: Aronson dies in New York