Shalom of Safed

Shalom of Safed (Shalom Moscovitz, 1887-1980) was born in Safed, Palestine. Until 1948 he worked as a watchmaker, scribe, silversmith and stonemason in Safed. After his workshop was destroyed during the war of Independence (1948) he turned to making toys and painting. As a man of deep faith and strict Orthodox observance, his naïve pictures drew from biblical stories but also contained details from the history and daily life of his Safed region. He frequently combined precisely delineated, albeit two-dimensional figures presented in profile, into horizontal sequences in order to tell a whole tale. His brightly colored images with deep psychological impact made his work very popular during his lifetime.

Print - Shalom of Safed
Isaac holding a key leads his new wife Rebecca to their home. They are followed by Abraham, Eliezer and an entourage of followers. Note that while the male figures are dressed in some facsimile of eastern garb, Rebecca could have stepped out directly from the shtetl. The lithograph is numbered (426/500) and initialed in the lower margin. On the rear is the Mourlot, Paris printer's stamp. image size - 11 1/4" x 16 3/8" Price: $350.00 info@artatthecenter.com		Click image to enlarge

Print - Shalom of Safed
With ducks paddling on the river Nile in the foreground, the rather stout princess directs one of her maid-servants to retrieve the baby Moses from the bull rushes. Is that Miriam crouched nearby? The lithograph is marked A.P. and has the artist's initials - both in pencil. On the rear is a mark of the printer Mourlot, Paris image size - 13 1/2" x 12 1/4" Price: $450.00 info@artatthecenter.com		Click image to enlarge