Still-Life with a Model’s Reflection in a Mirror

Women’s reflections in mirrors have been painted by many artists, but Renoir and Bonnard were masters of it. The work of these two painters, had a great influence on Samuel Tepler (Samuel, Shmuel Tepler, 1918–1998), although Tepler’s works do not have the joy of life that is characteristic of Renoir and Bonnard. They are melancholic, and who can tell whether the melancholy and the colour blue that accentuates it were the result of the mid-20th century cataclysms, or just a tribute to the Jewish tradition?

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The woman, kosher and emancipation. The first woman, and Adam’s first wife, was Lilith, whom God created from Adam’s rib (in the Christian translation she is simply called the Woman, Genesis 2, 21–23). Lilith considered herself equal to man, but Adam did not agree with this, and Lilith left the Garden of Eden. God sent three angels to bring her back, but she refused to return until her husband recognised her as an equal. God then created Eve, an obedient wife for Adam, and Lilith was punished. She became a winged demon with long hair, terrorising women in labour and newborn babies, seducing and preying on men in their erotic dreams.

Since Ancient times, all religious Jews have followed kosher rules (in Yiddish kosher, in Hebrew kasher, kashrut, ‘proper, correct’) that cover all areas of life and regulate the performance of rituals, diet, clothing, hygiene and other daily requirements. One of the biggest sins is nudity, so women must wear modest clothes and shoes, and married women must hide their hair under hats or wigs, because they must not tempt other men. For centuries, Lilith was the epitome of the ‘non-kosher’ wife, but today she has become a symbol of women’s emancipation and equality. This is how Lilith was depicted by Nikol Schattenstein, Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Jacques Lipchitz and Samuel Tepler. Images of female nudes challenge the traditional view of women, and symbolise the opposition of the artists to the dogmas of Judaism.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "Shalom, Israel! The Paths of Litvak Artists", 16 December  2015  – 13 March 2016, Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, Vilnius; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė

Women’s reflections in mirrors have been painted by many artists, but Renoir and Bonnard were masters of it. The work of these two painters, had a great influence on Samuel Tepler (Samuel, Shmuel Tepler, 1918–1998), although Tepler’s works do not have the joy of life that is characteristic of Renoir and Bonnard. They are melancholic, and who can tell whether the melancholy and the colour blue that accentuates it were the result of the mid-20th century cataclysms, or just a tribute to the Jewish tradition?

Text author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė

The woman, kosher and emancipation. The first woman, and Adam’s first wife, was Lilith, whom God created from Adam’s rib (in the Christian translation she is simply called the Woman, Genesis 2, 21–23). Lilith considered herself equal to man, but Adam did not agree with this, and Lilith left the Garden of Eden. God sent three angels to bring her back, but she refused to return until her husband recognised her as an equal. God then created Eve, an obedient wife for Adam, and Lilith was punished. She became a winged demon with long hair, terrorising women in labour and newborn babies, seducing and preying on men in their erotic dreams.

Since Ancient times, all religious Jews have followed kosher rules (in Yiddish kosher, in Hebrew kasher, kashrut, ‘proper, correct’) that cover all areas of life and regulate the performance of rituals, diet, clothing, hygiene and other daily requirements. One of the biggest sins is nudity, so women must wear modest clothes and shoes, and married women must hide their hair under hats or wigs, because they must not tempt other men. For centuries, Lilith was the epitome of the ‘non-kosher’ wife, but today she has become a symbol of women’s emancipation and equality. This is how Lilith was depicted by Nikol Schattenstein, Emmanuel Mané-Katz, Jacques Lipchitz and Samuel Tepler. Images of female nudes challenge the traditional view of women, and symbolise the opposition of the artists to the dogmas of Judaism.

Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė

Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album MORE THAN JUST BEAUTY (2012). Compiler and author Giedrė Jankevičiūtė, STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė
Expositions: “More Than Just Beauty: The Image of Woman in the LAWIN collection”, 12 October – 11 November 2012, National Gallery of Art, Vilnius; "Shalom, Israel! The Paths of Litvak Artists", 16 December  2015  – 13 March 2016, Tolerance Center of the Vilna Gaon State Jewish Museum, Vilnius; "Free and Unfree. Lithuanian Art between 1945 and 1990", 9 September 2021 – 30 April 2022, Lithuanian Art Centre TARTLE (Užupio St. 40, Vilnius). Curators Dovilė Barcytė and Ieva Burbaitė