About the work

Rafael Avraham Shalem drew this work—a celebration of Shabbat—in 1916 but lacked funds to print it until 1937. Remarkably, Shalem drew this work while he was a student at the Bezalel (he did not complete his studies until 1918). Though student work is often among an artist’s most technical works, it does not always reveal the maturity seen in this picture.

Adding to the specialness of this work is that it was printed at the storied A.L. Monsohn Lithographic Press in Jerusalem. The Monsohn brothers Avram-Leib and Moshe-Mordechai had been sent to Frankfort to learn lithography; they returned after two years with a hand-press which they used to start their work. They made a strong start in part because they were the only press in Israel printing in color. They continued to be innovators for decades thereafter and were widely reputed to be the preeminent Israeli press. The printed not only Jewish works but also Muslim and Christian works.

This work is exceptionally scarce. One example of it is found in the permanent collection of the Israel Museum in Jerusalem.

This work is framed using strictly conservation-grade materials in a black-stained wood frame behind 99% UV-blocking art glass.