Auction 94 Part 2 Rare and Important Items

Archive of Bezalel Student Pinchas Mikhael Lachowitzky – Jerusalem, Early 20th Century

Opening: $5,000
Estimate: $8,000 - $12,000
Sold for: $6,250
Including buyer's premium

Some 150 sketches, illustrations, prints, and various other works by Bezalel student Pinchas Mikhael Lachowitzky. [Jerusalem], first decades of the 20th century.
Archive of the painter and architect Pinchas Lachowitzky, one of the first students at the original Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, who specialized in decorative and printing arts and calligraphy; a rare example of the work of Bezalel’s earliest students; apparently, part of the archive was assembled in the course of Lachowitzky’s studies at the school, in the years 1912-15.
Included in the archive:
· Five large, colorful illustrations (approx. 50X70 cm) in a style typical of Bezalel’s artists and teachers: “Tevye the Milkman on his way to Katrielivka”, “Elijah Rising to Heaven”, “Spring has arrived, the time of the pruning [or singing] is come", "Under the Fig Tree", "The Night of January 1st in Russia".
· Seven original drawings (charcoal and pencil): David and Goliath, portrait of a Jew in traditional costume, portrait of a Jewish woman, and more.
· 16 sketches for an educational game for teaching the Hebrew alphabet: calligraphic letters with small illustrations; the name of the game appears on one of the sketches: "Gorala Eiver, ‘Pinchas’ Artistic-Educational Publications."
· Some 120 sketches for various graphic works: a fancy sketch for an emblem for the Jewish National Library (pre-State forerunner of the National Library of Israel); sketch for a sign for Jerusalem’s Zion Cinema; sketch for an emblem for the Order of the Knights of Pyt[h]ias in Jerusalem; a series of silhouettes, designs for plaster casts; designs for stationery for the Czech and Egyptian postal services; sketches for business cards; and more. Some of the sketches bear familiar portraits, including those of Maimonides, Mendele Mocher Sforim, Chief Rabbi Zvi Perez Chajes (Hayut) of Vienna, and others.
· Nine architectural and design drafts: architectural plans for the "Agricultural Orphanage Established by Rabbi Avraham Yonatan Blumenthal in the Moshava Motza near Jerusalem" (the agricultural branch of the Zion Blumental Orphanage of Motza/Jerusalem); a sketch for a "septic sewage tank of Mr. Mordechai Braud", design plans for furniture, and more.
Many of the items in the collection are signed with either Lachowitzky’s personal signature or his inked stamp. Some of the items are marked with the inked stamp of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts.


Pinchas Lachowitzky (1893-1965), painter, designer, and architect, native of Pinsk (today in Belarus). Immigrated to Ottoman Palestine in 1912, and was trained at the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, Jerusalem. Volunteered to join the Zion Mule Corps of the British army during World War I, and served with them until the end of the war; fought in Gallipoli, and was decorated for his service. Employed by the Municipality of Jerusalem as a draftsman and surveyor, and designed Modernist-style buildings in the city. Functioned as a prominent member – and eventually the first president – of the Esperanto-Ligo en Israelo (Israeli Esperanto League). Died in Jerusalem.


Some 150 paper items. Size and condition Vary.


Enclosed: · Esther (Etty) Lachowitzky, Our parents, embraced by the Times: The story of Zlote-Zehava and Pinchas-Mikhael Lachowitzky, Tel Aviv, A.R. Printing, 2017. Hebrew. · Some 20 newspaper clippings, handwritten notes, and various other items of ephemera.

Art
Art