Hyman Bloom
A Spiritual Embrace
December 1, 2006 — March 11, 2007
Members' Preview: Thursday, November 30, 6 - 8 p.m.
The following is excerpted from the exhibition catalog Hyman Bloom A Spiritual Embrace, essay by Katherine French.
Hyman Bloom began painting rabbis at the end of the nineteen thirties, using them as a metaphor for his own spiritual questioning. They confront the viewer with wide, expressive eyes. Their arms encircle the Torah, holding it close to the chest. “I decided to paint what I knew,” Bloom observes, shrugging off the irony that he would make what might be considered religious art. “It was a good subject to paint. I don’t think anyone else has painted this subject from the imagination. As far as I know, nobody has painted them from memory.”1
Endnotes
1 Hyman Bloom in conversation with the author, May 9, 2006.
Boston Expressionism at the Danforth Museum of Art
Rabbi with Torah, c. 1955
Oil on canvas, 72 x 54 inches
Courtesy of Joan and Barry Bloom
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