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[EARLY LISSITZKY] Sichas Cholin: Prager legende [i.e. Small Talk: The Legend of Prague] / design by El Lissitzky

Broderzon, Moshe

Item #2346

Moscow: Nashe Iskusstvo, 1917. Scroll. Dimensions: 22x382 cm. Linen-backed (period). The two ends of the scroll are chipped with minor tears and signs of wear. Later wooden case.

The edition exists in two variants: the scroll version was produced in 20 copies and hand-painted by the artist, and the regular version produced in 90 copies, uncolored. Our version is the third variant, which we couldn’t trace the mention of anywhere: all the dimensions and physical characteristics are similar to the scroll version from the part of the run of 20 copies. However, it is not hand-painted, nor does it have a number at the back to determine the part of the print-run (the field is left blank). We can only guess that it was prepared to be hand-painted, but this was never
done.

Extremely rare example of one of the most iconic editions of Moscow Jewish renaissance of the late 1910s. This was one of the first times young Jewish artist Lazar Lissitzky (1890-1941) had a
chance to express his artistic identity in print, the exercise that later would allow him to become one of the most influencing designers of 20th century.
In 1909, Lissitzky applied to the Art Academy in St. Petersburg but was not accepted due to the national quota. He graduated from the Higher Polytechnic School in Darmstadt, Germany. At the beginning of World War I, he returned to Russia. In order to be able to work, he graduated from the Riga Polytechnic Institute, which was evacuated to Moscow during the war, and received a diploma as an engineer-architect.

Moisey (Moshe) Broderzon was a Jewish poet, who wrote in Yiddish. He was born in 1890 in Moscow, but soon his family left Moscow for Nesvizh, and then to Lodz. After finishing school, he entered a commercial school and received the profession of an accountant. He began writing poetry while still in school, published his first poem in 1908, and in 1914 published a collection of 110 poems, Black Sparkles. Fleeing the war, he moved to Moscow. This is where Broderzon and Lissitzky's paths crossed. They were members of the Shomir Jewish National Esthetics Circle, which also included art critic Abram Efros, artist Polina Khentova, and composer Alexander Krein. Electrical engineer, collector, patron of the arts, and unofficial leader of the circle, Yakov Kagan-Shabshai, provided the circle with premises - on those premises the idea for this edition was conceived and the work has begun.

The story of Sichas Cholin unfolds in Prague, which at that time was home to a significant Jewish community. According to the legend, Rabbi Yoyne inadvertently finds himself in the palace of the
princess, the daughter of the demon Asmodeus. To save his life, the rabbi marries the princess but requests permission to return to his family in Prague. The princess agrees, but only after he swears to return in a year. Once back among his community, the rabbi forgets his promise. However, a year later, the princess arrives in Prague. The rabbi, unwilling to go back, is kissed by the princess, resulting in his death. In the summer of 1916 Lissitzky together with Isaak-Ber Rybak took a trip to the Western parts of Russian Empire documenting the wall paintings in synagogues in Mogilev, Kopys, Dubrovna and Druja. The ornaments were clearly used by Lissitzky in this and other similar designs.

In 1919 he would move to Kyiv and soon to Vitebsk to lay the foundation of the new understanding of the art together with Kazimir Malevich and others.

Price: $25,000.00