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The art of Hagada illustration was
established by the fourteenth century,
when wealthy Jewish patrons in France,
Spain and Germany commissioned
magnificent versions. The Sarajevo
Hagada, the Kaufmann Hagada (now in
Budapest) and examples in the British
Museum and elsewhere testify to the
stability of Jewish communities, implied in
the adoption of an art form derived from
Chrisitian and courtly traditions. The origin
of the anonymous artists is in doubt, but the
late Dr. Cecil Roth once referred to a
thirteenth-century treatise on book
illustration in Portuguese written in Hebrew
letters, which suggests a Jewish school of
illuminators.
With tjieir biblical scenes, and
contemporary views of the patron proudly
displaying his household and the richness of
his seder appurtenances, it is clear that the
traditional injunction against the depiction
of the human form was ignored. Jewish
history, from the Golden Calf—if not
before—reveals many such lapses,
including the famous third-century Dura
Europos murals and Graeco-Roman
synagogue mosaics, recording
identification with dominant foreign
cultures.
It must also be recognized that the
Hagada, though a very ancient text, is not
an ‘inspired’ text nor a synagogal prayer
book. A homely instrument of domestic
devotion, it is designed for family use, with a
clear slant towards children’s
entertainment.
When one comes to modern illustrators,
it is evident that early impressions and
family nostalgia lend emotional content to
their art. The Israeli artist Ya’akov
Boussidan introduces his hand-made
version with the words, ‘The beginning of
this Haggadah stems from a childhood
memory, and my family in Egypt....’
Ben Shahn, the distinguished American
painter, dedicated his 1965 edition to his
father: ‘It reflects my memories of the
Passover in my father’s house. It reflects my
early impressions find feelings; the images
that were always marked in my infancy by
the majestic and meaningful ritual.’
The invention of printiiig accelerated the
production of cheaper Hagadot. There is
evidence of an edition in Spain before the
expulsion of 1492. And in succeeding years
publications in Prague, Venice and
Amsterdam established a simplified form of
wood-cut illustration which dominates until
the end of the nineteenth century.
A charming feature throughout the ages
is the depiction of Jewish families in
contemporary dress. Even the eighteenth-
century Hagada of the Chinese Jews, and
the Hagada of the Bene Israel of India dated
1846 (both available in reprints) show Jews
in local costume.
It is not until the twentieth century that
one finds any resurgence of creative
originality in Hagada illustration, with
echoes of artistic styles. For instance an
elegant 1905 edition by the Galician
publisher, Deutscher, bears a green-and-
red title page in the art nouveau manner.
Another curiosity, the 1907 Reform Hagada
of America illustrated by Max Rosenthal,
includes a scene of tourists at an Egyptian
ruin.
The first two important modern versions
came from Berlin, both illustrated by artists
who settled in Palestine in 1933 and who
worked at the Bezalel School of Art. Joseph
Budko’s 1921 illustrations eschew
historicism for restrained images of poor
Jews, based on his Polish memories,
depicted in bleak wintry landscapes. Jacob
Steinhardt, a graphic artist of genius, used
woodcuts for his 1923 Hagada—harsh,
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One of the famous Hagada illustrations by Arthur Szyk, a mixture of art deco and batons russas.
Popular edition published by Messadeh and Atumoth. Israel
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Modern illustrations by Moshe Proops (left) and Ben Shahn.
expressionistic themes revealing the
influence of the great German satirist,
George Grosz.
In 1924, Rabbi Dr. Ferenc Hevesi
translated the text into Hungarian, with
monumental illustrations by Istvan Zador in
the Secessionist style, not dissimilar from
Saul Raskin’s 1968 New York version,
where the epic manner recalls Cecil B.
DeMille’s biblical extravaganzas.
Many foreign translations followed. The
1925 Paris Hagada, translated by Edmond
Fleg, with charming art deco drawings by
Janine Aiglon; for a 1928 publication in
Dutch and German Otto Geismar
contributed abstracted, match-like figures.
What is described as ‘the first Mexican
Hagada’, in Hebrew, Spanish and Yiddish,
appeared in 1947, with anonymous
modernistic drawings.
There was even a Communist Hagada
published in Moscow in 1927—‘Hagada for
Believers and Atheists’—with a Yiddish text
by M. Altschuler and irreverent illustrattons
by A. Tischler. A typical seder gathering is
surrounded by demons, devils and ghouls.
Wartime produced another variety. A
First World War version put out by the
American Jewish Welfare Board, with a pre-
Raphaelite vision of Moses by the Zionist
artist Lilien, was reprinted by the Australian
Jewish Forces in 1943. The Rainbow
Division of the United States Infantry
produced its own Hagada in Germany in
1945. Jacob Zimberknopf’s illustrations for
an Israeli Army edition in 1956 show the
chaplain and uniformed compatriots seated
at seder.
Many distinguished artists have
produced their own versions, including the
Anglo-Jewish painter Albert Rutherston,
brother of Sir John Rothenstein. Perhaps
the two most popular are by Arthur Szyk
and Ben Shahn.
Szyk, born in Lodz in 1894, was a brilliant
miniaturist, influenced by Persian art, and
the stage designer Leon Bakst. His richly
colored scenes, done in the thirties, are a
mixture of art deco and the ballets russes,
skilfully combining decoration and
information, masterfully organized within
tiny areas. One hesitates to recommend his
images for table use, since the sexy
exoticism is bound to distract even the most
dutiful participant. Good color editions of
Szyk’s Hagada have appeared in Israel.
Shahn is altogether more restful. Born in
Russia in 1898, he studied in Paris before
becoming one of the leading American
artists of the Depression era, allying himself
to Left-wing causes. The original eleven
drawings for his Hagada were inspired by
visits to the Tunisian island of Djerba and
contact with local Jews.
In 1933, impoverished, he sold them to
Mrs. Frieda Schiff Warburg whose son,
Edward, later presented them to the Jewish
Theological Seminary of America. When
the Trianon Press of Paris proposed a
facsimile edition Shahn added ten further
illustrations, plus a frontispiece and title
page. It appeared in America and France in
1965. The water-color drawings are
relaxed and sensuous, depicting the
turbanned figures as frames for the hand
written text.
Israel, of course, has seen a flood of
Hagadot. In 1942 the Palestine Jewish
Brigade in North Africa issued an elegant
duplicated version in Hebrew; while in the
same year Kibbutz Naan, near Rehovot,
produced a typical amateur variation, one
of hundreds issued by collective
settlements.
The long procession of professional
editions includes illustrations by such
leading artists as Jacob Wechsler, Moshe
Proops, Naftali Bezem, Schmuel Boneh.
The most recent is by Ya’akov Boussidan,
completed in London and entirely
handmade. Limited to 50 copies, the 150
sheets were printed in color from hand
etched plates.
As in medieval Hagadot, Boussidan starts
with the Bible, concentrating on the theme
of Creation, from Genesis to the State of
Israel. A gifted graphic designer, Boussidan
arrived in Israel from Egypt in 1949, aged
ten. He went to London in 1966 with a
Rothschild scholarship to study print
making. In contrast to Szyk’s oriental
gaiety, or the langorous charm of Shahn, his
vision is sombre, the heavy blacks and reds
only relieved by joyous images of Jerusalem
and a lighter secuence for the had gadya.
These three artists, like their many
colleagues, prove what a splendid vehicle
the Hagada is for personal, artistic
expression.