Albert Rubin

{{short description|Bulgarian-born Israeli painter, sculptor and artist}}

{{Infobox person

| honorific_prefix =

| name = Albert Rubin

| honorific_suffix =

| native_name = אלברט רובין

| native_name_lang = he

| image = Albert Rubin Painting James Sanua אלברט רובין מצייר את השיח אבו נדרה 1910.jpg

| image_size =

| alt =

| caption = Albert Rubin Painting James Sanua 1910

| birth_name = Avraham Rubin

| birth_date = 10 July 1887

| birth_place = Sofia, Bulgaria

| death_date = {{death date and age|1956|05|31|1887|7|10|df=y}}

| death_place = Paris, France

| resting_place = Cimetière parisien de Bagneux

| resting_place_coordinates =

| citizenship =

| education = The Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem, Ecole des Beaux-Arts

| occupation = painter, Sculptor and artist

| years_active =

| employer =

| organization =

| agent =

| known_for =

| notable_works =

| style =

| website = {{URL|http://www.albertrubin.com/}}

| footnotes =

}}

File:Bezalel 011.jpg

File:תערוכת אמנים יהודיים בפריז 1946 אלברט רובין בעיגול מימין ובעיגול משמאל מאנה כץ מחבק את ילדיו של אלברט רובין.jpg (on the left circle, hugging Rubin's children)]]

Albert Rubin ({{Langx|he|אלברט רובין}}; 10 July 1887 – 31 May 1956) was a Bulgarian-born Jewish painter, sculptor, graphic artist and illustrator. He was selected for the first class of Bezalel Art School, and later established his artistic career in Paris, where he lived and presented his work.{{cite web |title=Portraits: Transition and Beyond - Albert Rubin |url=https://www.ironit-rehovot.co.il/pdf/a185.pdf |website=Pages 39-42 |accessdate=20 August 2020}}

Biography

Albert (Avraham) Rubin was born in Sofia, the capital of Bulgaria. His father, Nissim Rubin, who mastered several languages, worked as an interpreter for tourists and diplomats. He had two brothers and three sisters. To help support the family, Rubin left school to become a carpenter’s apprentice. In his free time, he sculpted in wood. In 1903, urged by Boris Schatz, a family friend and the "father of Israeli art", he began studying painting and sculpture at the National Academy of Arts in Sofia.[https://www.askart.com/artist_bio/Albert_Rubin/11154072/Albert_Rubin.aspx Albert Rubin biography] When Theodor Herzl visited Sofia, Rubin was commissioned to paint his portrait.

In 1905, the Seventh Zionist Congress in Basel reached a decision to establish an art school in Palestine. A group of thirty young artists from all over Europe were to be selected to form the first class. Rubin, then 19 years old, applied and was immediately accepted.[https://www.artbeat.co.il/Exhibition.php?ind=3722#.Xz5d2sgzZE9 ArtBeat: Albert Rubin 1887-1956]

Rubin attended Bezalel for three years, 1906-1909, returned briefly to Bulgaria, and then moved to Paris, where he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts until 1917. Meanwhile his mother died, and the family joined him in Paris. His father, who worked as night watchman, died in a work accident in January 1914, leaving Rubin to care for his five siblings.

During World War I, he served in the French army, teaching art to Belgian and French soldiers.[https://il.bidspirit.com/ui/lotPage/source/catalog/auction/194/lot/61179/Albert-Rubin-1887-1956-Boat-in?lang=en Bidspirit: Albert Rubin 1887-1956] In 1931, he was accidentally blinded in one eye but continued to paint.[https://museum.imj.org.il/artcenter/newsite/en/?artist=Rubin,%20Albert&list=R Information Center for Israeli Art], Israel Museum

In 1933, he married and had two children, a daughter, Sylvia, and a son, Claude.[https://web.archive.org/web/20140818150201/http://museumeinharod.org.il/english/exhibitions/2010/albert_rubin/albert_rubin_catalog.pdf Albert Rubin: Beginnings (Hebrew)] During World War II, when the Nazis invaded France, he was forced to go into hiding for long periods of time. After the war, Rubin helped found the Association of Jewish Artists and Sculptors in France.

in May 1956, when he was 68, Rubin was hit by a car in Paris and died of his injuries. He was buried in Cimetiere parisien de Bagneux in a family plot beside his father. His daughter Sylvia Chetrit immigrated to Israel in 1969.

Art career

In early 1906, Rubin and his family arrived to Jerusalem. He began his studies in Bezalel Art School on 1 March 1906. He was placed in an advanced class. [ Among his teachers were Ephraim Moses Lilien and Samuel Hirszenberg. He painted and sculpted the landscapes of the land of Israel, especially the ones of Jerusalem. Several of his sculptures remained at Bezalel, among them two busts of children for which he used his younger brothers as models.

In the fall of 1909, he left for Paris to continue his art education. To make ends meet he sold all the paintings he had brought with him and began to work as a street artist, creating sidewalk drawings in chalk. He was accepted at the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris and received a scholarship, thanks to the intervention of Baron Rothschild. One of his first teachers was Fernand Cormon. He was a candidate for the Prix de Rome, but turned out to be ineligible because he was not a French citizen. He was invited to join the staff of Athenee de France, a respected art magazine, after exhibiting his dual portrait of Sheikh Abu-Nadra (pen name of Yaqub Sanu, an Egyptian Jewish playwright and journalist).

After serving in the French army in World War I, he received French citizenship. He was accepted to the Societe des Artistes Francais in 1914. From then on, he exhibited his work at its annual exhibition, Salon des Artistes Francais, and was lauded in the newspapers for his pastels and oils. Later, he became a sought-after portrait painter, noted for his unique style.[https://rehovot.mynet.co.il/culture_entertainment/article/SkdRPXAhL Portraits from the Past and Beyond: A New Exhibit at the Municipal Gallery]

Gallery

Albert Rubin - Job.jpg|Job,
oil on canvas,
45X81,
purchased by the Tel Aviv Museum

Albert Rubin - Nude model.jpg|Nude model,
oil on canvas,
32X21

Albert Rubin - Peace of Mankind.jpg|Peace of Mankind, 1940,
oil on wood,
46.5X30

Albert Rubin - The Indian dancer.jpg|The Indian dancer,
watercolor on cardboard,
43X26

Albert Rubin - Portrait of a redheaded woman in profile.jpg|Portrait of a redheaded woman in profile, 1935,
Pastel on cardboard,
39.5X30

Albert Rubin - Portrait of an older man.jpg|Portrait of an older man,
oil on canvas,
35X27

Albert Rubin - Portrait of Mr. R from Madagascar.jpg|Portrait of Mr. R from Madagascar, 1951,
watercolor on cardboard,
56.5X47

Albert Rubin - The woman with the pendant.jpg|The woman with the pendant,
Crayons on paper,
13.5X8.5

Albert Rubin - Al-Aqsa Mosque.jpg|Al-Aqsa Mosque, 1906,
oil on wood,
61X46

Albert Rubin - French village.jpg|French village, 1936,
oil on cardboard,
24X19

Albert Rubin - Port in Nice France.jpg|Port in Nice France, 1930,
oil on cardboard,
76X56

Albert Rubin - The Blue Lake in Switzerland.jpg|The Blue Lake in Switzerland, 1936,
oil on cardboard,
61.5X50.5

Awards and recognition

In 1933 and 1950, Rubin was awarded prizes at the Salon des Artistes Francais, an annual exhibition of French artists in Paris. A retrospective of his work was held at the Mishkan Museum of Art at Kibbutz Ein Harod in June–August 2010.[https://museumeinharod.org.il/en/beginnings/ Mishkan Museum of Art, Ein Harod, “Beginnings”]

Albert Rubin

Biography

Art career

Gallery

Awards and recognition

See also

References

Further reading