תיאור הספר

SIGNED BY ARTIST - Rafael Chwoles (1913-2002), who was born in Vilnius, studied painting in his home town at the Jewish Artisans School "Hilf durch arbet", and made his debut in 1933 where he was awarded with first prize for a portrait. Chwoles belonged to the literary-artistic group `Jung Vilne` (Young Vilna), active between 1929 and 1939. In 1940, he was appointed as the director of the Arts School in Nowa Wilejka and following the German attack on the Soviet Union in June 1941 went into deep Soviet Union, was employed as a railway worker and earned additional money by painting portraits. In the summer of 1944, following the liberation of Vilnius from the German occupation, Chwoles returned to his hometown and being affected by the destruction in the city by both the Germans and the Soviets created a series of paintings titled `Destroyed Ghetto - The Architecture of Old Vilnius`. In 1959 he moved to Warsaw where an exhibition of his works was organized under the title `Motifs from the Vilna Ghetto`. which are reproduced in this album. From 1969 until is death he resided in Paris. Text booklet with a short introduction and captions IN ENGLISH, POLISH AND YIDDISH included. 390x290mm. 30 unbound plates laid in light-blue cloth portfolio (each reproduction mounted on separate white page) & 16 pages booklet. [PORTFOLIO]: yellowing. stained and creased. Front cover corners and rear hinge upper edge slightly peeling. Spine and spine edges bumped and wrinkled. [BOOKLET]: Pages creased. First and last pages slightly yellowing and slightly age-stained. Spine upper edge torn. [PLATES]: Plate #16 bottom edge and #29 upper edge bumped and worn. Plate #5 framing fore edge slightly torn - NO damage to plate. [SUMMARY]: This extremely rare collection of works by an eminent 20thc-emtury Jewish artist, bearing his signature, is overall in good condition.