Prominent Italian Jewish family donates painting by Dutch master to Israel Museum

Jozef Israels's 'Fisherwomen of Zandvoort,' painted in 1890, exemplifies the artist's commitment to depicting common people.

By LAUREN GELFOND FELDINGER
Jozef Israel painting 88 224 (photo credit: Courtesy)
Jozef Israel painting 88 224
(photo credit: Courtesy)
Children of the prominent Italian Jewish Bedarida and Toaff families have donated a Jozef Israels painting to the Israel Museum. The 172 x 136 cm. Fisherwomen of Zandvoort painted in 1890 is an outstanding example of the Dutch master's dedication to painting the common people at work, in contrast to his contemporaries, who were committed to painting for and about the upper classes, says Shlomit Steinberg, the museum's European art curator. Art historians through the years have called Jozef Israels an artistic descendant of Rembrandt and an inspiration to the 19th century modern masters Vincent Van Gogh and Max Liebermann. Liebermann and Israels were also friends. Israels is considered one of the greatest Jewish European painters of his time, and in later life, he painted a number of Jewish religious figures and scenes. Several of these were included in the 1901 Fifth Zionist Congress exhibition in Basel, Switzerland. Israels's parents had apparently expected him to be a rabbi, until they found him constantly sketching in the margins of ledgers and decided to encourage his art studies. His Fisherwomen painting belonged to art collector and scholar Guido Bedarida of Livorno, Italy (d. 1962) and his wife Tia Toaff (d. 2002), who was the sister of Elio Toaff, the emeritus chief rabbi of Rome. Her father was Alfredo Sabato Toaff, an important Kabbalist and the chief rabbi of Livorno. Bedarida, with the elder Toaff and the painters of Livorno, created the first Jewish museum in Italy, housed in a synagogue, but it was destroyed in WWII. Their documentation is all that remains of the perished or stolen works. Bedarida, an avid art collector, acquired many Italian modern works, including a collection from the Macchiaioli movement, which was Tuscany's forerunner to impressionism. He also collected Judaica, silver and Chinese works of art. He had a law degree, founded the local Zionist movement, wrote poetry and penned academic books and papers on the Jews of Italy. He was one of the only writers to publish works in the Baggito dialect of the Livorno Jews, and he is credited with keeping the language alive. Baggito was influenced by Spanish, Hebrew, Ladino and the local Livornese dialect. A playwright as well, he founded the Jewish theater, Compagnia del Teatro Ebraico. Before his death, Bedarida had told family members that having the Fisherwomen painting in an Israeli museum would be the appropriate legacy. The work, yellowed with varnish and expected be conserved at the museum, is the eighth Israels work to join the museum's European art department. There are also Israels works in the prints and drawing collections. In a related story, the prints and drawings department at the Israel Museum has just received a gift of 59 prints from the Fred Jahn Gallery in Munich. The works are by five contemporary artists: Franz Hitzler of Bavaria, Hermann Nitsch of Vienna, Barry Le Va of California, Fred Sandback of New York and Rudi Troger of Franconia.