Herbrechtsmeier owns the work and is providing it to the Temple Beth El congregation on extended loan. He will speak at 2 p.m. about the early Biblical monarchy, which he calls “the first great narrative in all of human literature.” His brief lecture will highlight “the Shakespearean-like drama of the lives of Samuel, Saul, David and Jonathan.”
Of The Death of Saul, Herbrechtsmeir said, “The loan is a small token of my gratitude to various Jewish teachers, colleagues and students who have been indispensable to my intellectual development throughout my academic career and my appreciation for the numerous blessings I have received from Jews and Jewish traditions over many decades.”
Added Rabbi Naomi Steinberg of Temple Beth El, “It’s thrilling to have the opportunity to display an original Chagall. Though titled ‘The Death of Saul’ and depicting the demise of the first king of ancient Israel, the lithograph has an innocent, almost whimsical quality typical of Chagall’s distinctive style. The great artist has captured an extremely moving moment in the narrative, summed up by the poetic exclamation, ‘How the mighty have fallen!’ Somehow the work is both heartbreaking and uplifting. We are very grateful to Professor Herbrechtsmeier for his generosity.”
Chagall (1887-1985) was a revered Russian-French-Jewish artist considered by critics to be the last surviving master of European modernism and one of the 20th century’s greatest figurative painters. Known for pictorial intelligence and eccentric motifs, he worked in a multitude of artistic media and a number of major styles, in paint, stained glass windows, tapestries, costumes, murals, theater sets and illustrations of the Old Testament. He traveled to Palestine and Jerusalem for his Biblical art. He was reported to have said, “I did not see the Bible, I dreamed it.”
At a retrospective of Chagall’s works at Madrid’s El Museo de arte Thyssen-Bornemisza in 2012, curator Jean-Louis Paget wrote, “His entire oeuvre is imbued with an independence of spirit and a consciousness of the precariousness of existence, a reflection of the Jewish culture into which he was born and which he never abandoned.” In 1977, Chagall received France’s highest honor, the Grand-Croix de la Légion d’honneur.
The public is invited to view the “Death of Saul” and attend Herbrechtsmeier’s lecture; refreshments will be served. The program is offered free of charge, but donations are welcome to the Temple Beth El Art Fund.
Temple Beth El is located at Hodgson & T Streets in Eureka. For details, dial 444-2846 or click on www.templebetheleureka.org.