4 June to 10 October
Following a very successful run in New York, the exhibition
Mayer July. Colourful Memories of a Polish Childhood will
open at the Jewish Historical Museum on 4 June. It features the
work of Mayer Kirshenblatt (also known as Mayer July), who at the
age of 73 began transforming his childhood memories of prewar
Poland into marvellous narrative paintings and colourful drawings.
His conversations with his daughter Barbara over a forty-year
period about the nearly forgotten world of his youth ultimately led
to a book and an exhibition.
In a frank and humorous style, Kirshenblatt (1916-2009) presents a
unique picture of everyday life in his birthplace of Opatów (also
known by its Yiddish name Apt) before the Second World War. He
depicts the bustling streets, squares, and markets, the synagogue,
the craftspeople, and of course the memorable characters who
populated his world, from shoemakers, butchers, and prostitutes to
street performers, pickpockets, and chimney sweeps.
Weird and wonderful folk tales come to life: the stories of the
pregnant hunchback who stood underneath the wedding canopy just
hours before giving birth, the cobbler's son who dressed in white
pyjamas to fool the angel of death, the well-dressed kleptomaniac
who slipped a fish down her bosom, and the woman who washed floors
in her wedding gown. The exhibition is a tribute to Kirshenblatt's
distinctive imagination, fuelled by his keen memory.
Mayer Kirshenblatt, who went from Opatów to Canada at the age of
17, looks back at his place of origin through the eyes of an
emigrant. He takes a nostalgic view, even when recalling very
difficult times. His art embodies a universal struggle with the
past, with issues of loyalty and identity and feelings of being
rooted, and uprooted - themes that strike a chord with viewers and
are highly relevant today.
The exhibition will also feature two films. The first shows
Kirshenblatt in his studio in Toronto and during a visit to Apt
with his daughter Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett, a leading scholar
of East European Jewish life and culture. In the second film, one
of Kirshenblatt's magical stories is performed as a puppet show.
There is also an entertaining and informative audio tour, available
free of charge, with commentary by the artist, his daughter, and
other experts (in the English-language version).
For this exhibition, the Judah L. Magnes Museum and the California
University Press have produced a magnificently illustrated and
bound catalogue (€ 42.50).
The exhibition was developed by the Judah L. Magnes Museum in
California under the title of They Called Me Mayer July:
Painted Memories of a Jewish Childhood in Poland before
the Holocaust has been made possible through a grant
from the Taube Foundation for Jewish Life and Culture and thanks to
the generosity of Jean and Sandy Colen, Varda and Irving Rabin, and
Katie and Amnon Rodan.
For information and/or images, please contact:
Marketing and Communication Department
T +31 (0)20 5 310 370
E Communication
Department