Rabbi Reading
1919-1920
Medium
woodcut in black on laid paper
Dimensions
image: 10.8 × 4.92 cm (4 1/4 × 1 15/16 in.) sheet: 22.23 × 15.24 cm (8 3/4 × 6 in.)
Classification
Department
CG-W
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Jack and Margrit Vanderryn
Accession Number
2015.114.7
Art Historical Context
**Rabbi Reading** is a poignant woodcut created by Max Weber between 1919 and 1920, capturing a rabbi deeply engrossed in study. This intimate print, measuring just 10.8 × 4.92 cm, exemplifies Weber's modernist sensibility. Born in Russia and later a key figure in early American modernism, Weber drew from his Jewish heritage to spiritual contemplation amid the cultural upheavals following World War I. The work reflects a moment when Jewish artists in America were blending tradition with innovative forms, evoking quiet reverence through stark contrasts. Printed in black ink on laid paper—a tex...
About the Artist
Max Weber
Max Weber (1881–1961), born in Białystok in the Russian Empire (now Poland) to Orthodox Jewish parents, immigrated to Brooklyn, New York, at age ten with his family, joining his tailor father.) There, he pursued art studies at the Pratt Institute under Arthur Wesley Dow, an innovative teacher who emphasized expression and form over traditional narrative, drawing from Japanese art and Paul Gauguin....