Ephraim Moses Lilien ( pl, Maurycy Lilien, ; 23 May 1874 – 18 July 1925) was an

art nouveau Art Nouveau (; ) is an international style of art, architecture, and applied art, especially the decorative arts. The style is known by different names in different languages: in German, in Italian, in Catalan, and also known as the Modern ...

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

and

printmaker Printmaking is the process of creating work of art, artworks by printing, normally on paper, but also on fabric, wood, metal, and other surfaces. "Traditional printmaking" normally covers only the process of creating prints using a hand proce ...

particularly noted for his art on Jewish themes. He is sometimes called the "first

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

artist."Haim Finkelstein, Lilien and Zionism

Biography

Ephraim Moses Lilien (''Maurycy Lilien'') was born in 1874, in

Drohobycz Drohobych ( uk, Дрого́бич, ; pl, Drohobycz; yi, דראָהאָביטש;) is a city of regional significance in Lviv Oblast, Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Drohobych Raion and hosts the administration of Drohobych urban hro ...

, Galicia, then in the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

. In 1889-1893, Lilien learned painting and graphic techniques at the Academy of Arts in Kraków. He studied under Polish painter

Jan Matejko Jan Alojzy Matejko (; also known as Jan Mateyko; 24 June 1838 – 1 November 1893) was a Poles, Polish painting, painter, a leading 19th-century exponent of history painting, known for depicting nodal events from Polish history. His works includ ...

from 1890 to 1892. As a member of the

Zionist Movement Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Jew ...

, Lilien traveled to

Ottoman Palestine Ottoman Syria ( ar, سوريا العثمانية) refers to divisions of the Ottoman Empire within the region of Syria, usually defined as being east of the Mediterranean Sea, west of the Euphrates River, north of the Arabian Desert and south ...

several times between 1906 and 1918.On Ephraim Moses Lilien
Lilien attended the Fifth

Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( he, הקונגרס הציוני העו� ...

, held in

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

, as a member of the Democratic Fraction, an opposition group that supported the development of secular national culture. In 1905, at the Seventh Zionist Congress, in Basel, he, along with

Boris Schatz Boris Schatz ( he, בוריס שץ; 23 December 1866 – 23 March 1932) was a Lithuanian Jewish artist and sculptor who settled in Israel. Schatz, who became known as the "father of Israeli art," founded the Bezalel School in Jerusalem. After S ...

, became a member of a committee formed to help establish the Bezalel Art School. As part of that work he accompanied Schatz to

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

Art career

Lilien was one of the two artists to accompany Boris Schatz to what is now

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1906 for the purpose of establishing

Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design ( he, בצלאל, אקדמיה לאמנות ועיצוב) is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldes ...

, and taught the school's first class in 1906. Although his stay in the country was short-lived, he left his indelible stamp on the creation of an Eretz Israel style, placing biblical subjects in the Zionist context and oriental settings, conceived in an idealized Western design. In the first two decades of the century, Lilien's work served as a model for the Bezalel group. Lilien is known for his famous photographic portrait of

Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl; hu, Herzl Tivadar; Hebrew name given at his brit milah: Binyamin Ze'ev (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish lawyer, journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern p ...

. He often used Herzl as a model, considering his features a perfect representation of the "New Jew." In 1896, he received an award for photography from the avantgarde magazine '' Jugend''. Lilien illustrated several books. In 1923, an exhibition of his work opened in New York. Lilien's illustrated books include ''Juda'' (1900), Biblically themed poetry by Lilien's Christian friend, Börries Freiherr von Münchhausen, and ''Lieder des Ghetto'' (Songs of the Ghetto) (1903), Yiddish poems by Morris Rosenfeld translated into German. Lilien died in

Badenweiler Badenweiler (High Alemannic: ''Badewiler'') is a health resort and spa in the Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, historically in the Markgräflerland. It is 28 kilometers by road and rail from Basel, 10 kilometer ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1925. A street in the Nayot neighborhood of Jerusalem is named for him.

Gallery

File:Lilien Sonnenblume.jpg, "Sunflower" (Sonnenblume), ''Jugend'', Berlin, 1893 File:Ex libris Stefan Zweig.jpg,

Ex libris Ex Libris may refer to: *An Ex Libris (bookplate), a label affixed to a book to indicate ownership *Ex Libris (band), a Dutch metal band *Ex Libris (bookshop), a Swiss retail company * "Ex Libris" (''Charmed''), a 2000 episode of the television ser ...

Stefan Zweig Stefan Zweig (; ; 28 November 1881 – 22 February 1942) was an Austrian novelist, playwright, journalist, and biographer. At the height of his literary career, in the 1920s and 1930s, he was one of the most widely translated and popular write ...

c. 1900 File:Juda 13.jpg, "The Queen of Sabbath", from ''Juda'', Berlin, 1900-1 File:Juda 11.jpg, "The Silent Song" from ''Juda'', 1900–1. File:May our eyes behold your return in mercy to Zion.jpg, 'May our eyes behold your return in mercy to Zion'', Fifth Zionist Congress souvenir, Basel, 1901. File:Herzl Basel 1901.jpg, ''

Herzl Herzl is both a given name and a surname. Notable people with the name include: Given name: *Herzl Berger *Herzl Bodinger *Herzl Rosenblum *Herzl Yankl Tsam Surname: *Theodor Herzl See also *Mount Herzl *''Herzl (play) ''Herzl'' is a 1976 play w ...

'' in Basel, 1901. Photograph (reproduced as a postcard). File:Ost und west.jpg, ''Ost und West'', 1903 File:Kishinev Martyrs.jpg, Homage to the victims of the first Chișinău pogrom, 1903.Image published in ''Ost und West'', December 1904
848-850
File:Lieder des Ghetto 6.jpg, Jewish child from ''Lieder des Ghetto'', 1903 File:Lieder des Ghetto 11.jpg, "

Zion Zion ( he, צִיּוֹן ''Ṣīyyōn'', LXX , also variously transliterated ''Sion'', ''Tzion'', ''Tsion'', ''Tsiyyon'') is a placename in the Hebrew Bible used as a synonym for Jerusalem as well as for the Land of Israel as a whole (see Names ...

", ''Lieder des Ghetto'', 1903 File:E. M. Lilien,.jpg,

Boris Schatz, 1905 File:BezalelLogo.svg, Emblem of the

, Jerusalem, 1906 File:Ephraim Moses Lilien - An Allegorical Wedding- Sketch for a carpet dedicated to Mr. and Mrs. David Wolffsohn Triptych (from... - Google Art Project.jpg, An Allegorical Wedding: Sketch for a carpet Triptych (from right to left): Exile, Marriage, Redemption, 1906 File:Lilian001.jpg, Portrait, photograph, 1906 File:Lilian002.jpg, ''

Joshua Joshua () or Yehoshua ( ''Yəhōšuaʿ'', Tiberian: ''Yŏhōšuaʿ,'' lit. 'Yahweh is salvation') ''Yēšūaʿ''; syr, ܝܫܘܥ ܒܪ ܢܘܢ ''Yəšūʿ bar Nōn''; el, Ἰησοῦς, ar , يُوشَعُ ٱبْنُ نُونٍ '' Yūšaʿ ...

'', 1908 File:Abraham Lilien.jpg, ''

Abraham Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Jew ...

'', 1908 File:Bileam and his she-ass.jpg, ''

Balaam Balaam (; , Standard ''Bīlʿam'' Tiberian ''Bīlʿām'') is a diviner in the Torah (Pentateuch) whose story begins in Chapter 22 of the Book of Numbers (). Ancient references to Balaam consider him a non-Israelite, a prophet, and the son of Beo ...

'',

908 __NOTOC__ Year 908 ( CMVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. Events By place Byzantine Empire * May 15 – The three-year-old Constantine VII, the son of Emperor L ...

File:Dybbuk.jpg, ''

Dybbuk In Jewish mythology, a (; yi, דיבוק, from the Hebrew verb meaning 'adhere' or 'cling') is a malicious possessing spirit believed to be the dislocated soul of a dead person. It supposedly leaves the host body once it has accomplished ...

'',

File:Ephraim Moses Lilien Historical images of the Western Wall - 1920 C SR 019.JPG, ''Kotel'' (

Western Wall The Western Wall ( he, הַכּוֹתֶל הַמַּעֲרָבִי, HaKotel HaMa'aravi, the western wall, often shortened to the Kotel or Kosel), known in the West as the Wailing Wall, and in Islam as the Buraq Wall (Arabic: حَائِط � ...

), 1910 File:En_la_biblioteca_1915.jpg, ''In the Library'', engraving, 1915 File:Torah scribe.jpg, ''

Sofer A sofer, sopher, sofer SeTaM, or sofer ST"M ( he, סופר סת״ם, "scribe"; plural of is , ; female: ) is a Jewish scribe who can transcribe Sifrei Kodesh (holy scrolls), tefillin (phylacteries), mezuzot (ST"M, , is an abbreviation of thes ...

of the

Torah The Torah (; hbo, ''Tōrā'', "Instruction", "Teaching" or "Law") is the compilation of the first five books of the Hebrew Bible, namely the books of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. In that sense, Torah means the s ...

'', sewing its parchments, engraving, 1915 File:The Talmud students.jpg, ''Learning

Talmud The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cente ...

'', engraving, 1915 File:Lilian005.jpg, ''Figures'', photograph, ''c''. 1918 File:Lilien The Samaritan.jpg, ''The Samaritan'', engraving, ''c''. 1920

References

External links

* * * .
Illustrations in "Lieder des Ghetto"

Ephraim Moses Lilien Collection
at the

Leo Baeck Institute, New York The Leo Baeck Institute New York (LBI) is a research institute in New York City dedicated to the study of German-Jewish history and culture, founded in 1955. It is one of three independent research centers founded by a group of German-speaking J ...

. {{DEFAULTSORT:Lilien, Ephraim Moses 1874 births 1925 deaths Art Nouveau illustrators Jewish artists Austrian photographers Austrian illustrators Polish photographers Polish illustrators Zionist activists Israeli illustrators Israeli photographers Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Austrian emigrants to Israel People from Drohobych Austro-Hungarian Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Early photographers in Palestine