DESCRIPTION : Up for auction is an ORIGINAL colorful HAND SIGNED Stone LITHOGRAPH , Depicting a JEWISH THEME taken from the DAILY STETL - SHTETL LIFE of an OLD JEWISH KNIFE SHARPENER and a JEWISH KID bringing his home SCISSORS for sharpening. This SCENE takes place on the background of a typical SHTETL VIEW . The COLORFUL ORIGINAL PIECE is HAND SIGNED with pencil ( "I.RYBACK " ) by the artist , The renowned JEWISH - RUSSIAN AVANT GARDE artist ISSACHAR BER RYBACK . The COLORFUL lithograph belongs to RYBACK lithographs 1932 cycle of “MON VILLAGE” ( My Village or My Stetl ) , That cycle is known to consists of 250 copies , This copy is an ARTIST PROOF - PREUVE D'ARTISTE . Once examining each of the 16 pieces of this cycle , One can easily determine that this one is no doubt one of the MOST BEAUTIFUL of them all. The sheet size is around 19.5 x 26". The actual lithograph size is around 16 x 22" . RYBACK has signed with pencil "Y. RYBACK " at bottom right . Very good condition. Very thick and heavy lithographic paper. ( Please look at scan for actual AS IS images ) Will be sent in a special protective rigid sealed tube.
AUTHENTICITY : This STONE LITHOGRAPH is an ORIGINAL ca 1932 hand signed lithograph , NOT a reproduction or a reprint , It holds a life long GUARANTEE for its AUTHENTICITY and ORIGINALITY.
PAYMENTS : Payment method accepted : Paypal & All credit cards.
SHIPPMENT : SHIPP worldwide via registered airmail is $29 . Will be sent rolled in a special protective rigid sealed
tube. Handling around 5-10 days after payment.
Issachar Ber Ryback– a painter, a graphic, a sculptor, a scene painter, and an art critic. He was born on February 2, 1897 in Yelisavetgrad (now Kirovograd, Ukraine). Though his father originated from a high-born Chassid family, he was a follower of Haskala and an admirer of the Russian culture, and tried to foster love of this culture in his children. Nevertheless, he sent his son to the "heder", though rather late, only at the age of 10, because due to his delayed development and unhealthiness Ryback lacked speech habits nearly till he was nine. He studied in the "heder" for slightly more than a year, dedicating most of his time to the evening drawing classes for workers attached to the local factory, which he attended in secret. At the age of 11 he entered the Yelisavetgrad courses for scene painters, and having completed the course, was working since 1909 in an artel (co-operative unit) that dealt with interior paintings of public and church buildings. The money he earned in the artel permitted him to become independent and continue his artistic education, despite his father's resistance. In 1911, Ryback was admitted to the Kiev School of Arts, Faculty of Painting, and graduated in 1916. At that period he became a member of the non-formal group created by the school Jewish painters that included, in particular, Boris Aronson, Alexander Tyshler, Solomon Nikritin, Mark Epstein, and Isaac Rabinovich, who later became the well-known artists. They all were consolidated by the idea of keen national self-identity and interest to various modernistic trends in art. Particular features of their world outlook were influenced, on the one hand, by the ideology of the so-called Kiev Group of Yiddish men of letters: David Bergelson, Nachman Mayzil, Yehezkiel Dobrushin, David Hofstein, etc., who were the theoreticians and the creators of the "modern" Jewish culture and literature. On the other hand, Ryback, similarly to the other, close-spirited young Jewish painters, established close links with Alexander Bogomazov and Alexandra Exter, who lived then in Kiev and were among the leading painters of the Russian avant-garde. In 1913-1914 Ryback attended classes in Exter's private studio. In 1915, at the Kiev Spring Exhibition, he for the first time presented his paintings, most of them being inspired by Jewish topics but in a modernistic style. In summer 1916, Ryback, together with El Lisitzky, was commissioned by the Jewish Historical and Ethnographic Society to travel all over Ukrainian and Byelorussian small towns (stetln) and copy the paintings in wooden synagogues and carved gravestones on the Jewish cemeteries. This trip awoke Ryback's interest in Jewish folk art and from that time on, he started regular collection and copying of the art samples. In spring 1917, Ryback participated in the Moscow Exhibition of Jewish painters and sculptors, and the critics assessed him as "one of the most brilliant and ingenious artists". The same year, Ryback participated in the launching of the Kiev Branch of the Jewish Society for the Fine Art Encouragement. In spring 1918, he became a founder of the Culture League Artistic Division. It was the organization established at that period in Ukraine for the development of new Jewish culture in Yiddish language. In 1918-1919, Ryback taught drawing and painting at the Kiev Jewish Children's Studio attached to the Artistic Division, designed a number of stamps for Jewish publishing houses and made artistic design of the Eygns, a literary almanac in Yiddish. Besides, he prepared scenery sketches and scale model for the pioneering production of the Culture League Theater Studio that have foreseen some of the Constructivist set design discoveries. In summer 1919, in the Baginen, the Kiev Yiddish-language magazine, in collaboration with Boris Aronson, Ryback published The Ways of Jewish Painting paper, which served as a peculiar manifesto of Jewish avant-garde art. The paper authors were of opinion that the art should represent the synthesis of the Jewish artistic tradition and the achievements of the European radical modernism. In conformity with the program stated, Ryback himself painted a number of works where Jewish symbols and folk art motifs were intertwined with the avant-garde techniques of image plotting. At the same period, he created a series of works dedicated to the Jewish pogroms in Ukraine – in one of such pogroms his father was murdered. In spring 1920, Ryback was one of the organizers and participants of the exhibition held by the Culture League Artistic Division in Kiev. Soon after the exhibition closing, in April, he relocated to Moscow, where he was living for about a year. Within that period he participated in the activities of the Circle of Jewish Writers and Painters, and collaborated with the Moscow Jewish Chamber Theater. In April 1921, Ryback left Russia and for a number of months, waiting for his entry visa for Berlin, resided in Kovno (now – Kaunas). There he designed a couple of books in Yiddish and worked at the Lithuanian Culture League institutions. In October he arrived in Berlin and began his active participation in the international and Jewish cultural life. In 1921-1924, Ryback was the Novembergruppe member and took part in its exhibitions; he also exhibited his works at the Berlin Sezession and Juryfreie Kunstshau exhibitions. In 1922, together with Yankel Adler and Henryck Berlevi, Ryback (as the representative of the Eastern European Jewish painters) participated in the preparation and conduct of the congress of the Union of Progressive International Artists (Dusseldorf, May 29-31, 1922). Jointly with other Jewish painters such as Nathan Altman and Joseph Chaikov, Ryback collaborated with Jewish writers in Berlin and participated in their cultural events. The same year he made artistic design of three books by Miriam Margolin – Fairy Tales for Small Children in Yiddish. In parallel, Ryback of that period was engaged in artistic criticism, publishing reviews of various exhibitions and papers on painters in German and Jewish newspapers. He also cooperated with German Jewish publishing houses and performed orders for artistic works from certain Jewish organizations, specifically ORT. In 1923, the Shvelln, a Berlin Jewish Publishing House, published Ryback's graphical album named Stetl. A year after, his Jewish Types of Ukraine lithographic album saw the light. These two graphic series were based on Ryback's impressions and recollections of his 1916 trip along the Ukrainian and Byelorussian stetln. From December 1923 until January 1924 he had his solo exhibition in Berlin, which revealed Ryback's achievements as the original interpreter of Cubism. In December 1924 he came back to Moscow as he was invited by the Jewish Studio of the Byelorussian Theater to make stage design of a theater play. Also, in early 1925 Ryback made stage design of the In bren and Purimspiel plays at the Ukrainian State Jewish theater of Kharkov. Soon after that, he undertook a prolonged trip along the Jewish kolkhozes of Ukraine and Crimea. The trip resulted in the At the Jewish Fields of Ukraine album, which was published in 1926 in Paris where Ryback finally relocated in early 1926. Immediately, he began to play an outstanding role in the artistic life of the French capital, which was evidenced by his two one-man exhibitions in the Galerie aux Quatre Chemins (1928) and in the Galerie L’Art Contemporain (1929). His painting style underwent changes in that period: Ryback passed from the Cubist stylistics to the Expressionist colorist painting a la Ėcole de Paris. He won recognition beyond the French borders as well. In 1930 his one-man show took place in the Hague, in 1931, in Rotterdam, in 1932, in Brussels and Antwerp. In 1932, a folder of etchings based on his Shadows of the Past drawings was published in Paris and its characters showed Ryback's permanent adherence to the Jewish theme. It was also witnessed by his ceramic sculptures created in his last years of life. His ceramic exposition was held in early 1935 in Musée National Céramique de Sèrves, and later the Museum purchased some of Ryback's sculptures for his collection. In February 1935, at the invitation of the Cambridge University Artistic Society, Ryback went to England to the opening of his exhibition. On his way to Cambridge he stopped in London, where a small exhibition of Ryback's works was open for the representatives of local Jewish public and culture at the house of Leah L.Gildesheim, a Jewish public figure. In April 1935, the exposition of his works was opened in Cambridge and was highly praised by the British art critics. In May 1935, Ryback returned to Paris, full of creative ideas that he did not succeed to realize. Due to dramatic worsening of his severe chronic disease he was forced to go to the hospital, where he spent the last months of his life. In fact, the dying painter's friends had enough time to hold the exhibition of his works in a Paris gallery. Ryback took part in the exhibition preparation even saying in hospital, but he was unable to appear at the opening. Soon after the exhibition closed, Ryback passed away, on December 22, 1935. ******* IsIssachar ber Ryback (1897-1935) was born in Yelizavetgrad. He attended the Art Academy in Kiev from 1911-1916 and was an important contributor to the Kiev art scene until 1921 when he moved to Berlin where he participated in the historically important Berlin Secession exhibit. In 1926 he moved to Paris, dying there on the eve of an important retrospective exhibition of his work organized by Wildenstein. Much of his collection was donated for the establishment of the Ryback Museum of Bat Yam in Israel. Ryback was an important member of the Russian Jewish, modernist movement that included Lissitsky, Altman, Aronson and Chagall, all of whom were seeking to revitalize Jewish art during a period which saw the cultural efflorescence of Yiddish literature, music, theater, and art. ********* Ryback was born in the Ukraine and attended the Kiev Art Institute. He worked with El Lissitzky on an ethnographic mission to record the life and artifacts of Jews in small Russian towns. He was a member of avant-garde movements in Russia and later in Germany. Ryback experimented with a modified form of Cubism, using structures to express emotions while pursuing his interest in folklore (S.T. Goodman, ed., Russian Jewish Artists, New York, 1995, p. 218). ******* Born in 1897 in Yelizavetgrad (Ukraine), Ryback studied at the Kiev Academy in Moscow from 1911 – 1916. He initially experimented with Cubism and then began painting Jewish subject matter in the 1920s when critics and collectors began to appreciate his analytic Cubism and recognize his importance in the Russian vanguard movement. In 1921 he moved to Berlin, where he participated in the “Der Sturm” group. He was invited back to Moscow in 1925 to design costumes for the Moscow Theatre, before moving to Paris in 1926. There he adopted a new style of Realism, portraying Russian Jewish “shtetl” life, bringing out the forceful, distinctive character of his Yiddish-speaking subjects without resorting to sentimentalism. Ryback was an important member of the Russian Jewish, modernist movement that included Lissitsky, Altman, Aronson and Chagall. Edouard Roditi said of him, “Ryback may be generally recognized as an artist whose genius bears comparison only with that of Chagall.” He died suddenly in Paris in 1935, a few days after the opening of a retrospective exhibition of his work organized by the Wildenstein Gallery. ******* Graphic artist, painter, stage designer and art critic. Born in Elisavetgrad (now Kirovohrad), Ryback studied at Kyiv College of Art and at the studios of Alexandra Ekster (1911-1916). In 1916, according to the Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Society’s assignment, Ryback and El Lissitzky visited a number of towns in Ukraine and Belorus, where they copied the murals in the wooden synagogues and the carved tombstones on Jewish cemeteries. In 1917 Ryback took part in the Exhibition of Jewish Painters and Sculptors in Moscow. Reviewers wrote that he was one of the “most original and colorful painters”. In Kyiv, Ryback helped organizing Kyiv branch of the Jewish Society for Furthering of Arts (1917), of the Kultur-Lige Art Section (1918) and of the 1st Jewish Art Exhibition. In 1919 Ryback and Boris Aronson published the programmatic essay “Paths of Jewish Painting”. In 1920 Ryback after the moved to Moscow, where he lived for about a year. In 1921 Ryback moved to Berlin, where he became a member of the November Group and published two albums of graphic works, “Shtettl” (1923) and “Jewish Types of Ukraine” (1924). After his return to the USSR in 1924, he created decorations for the Ukrainian State Jewish Theater in Kharkiv and undertook a long journey through Jewish kolkhozes of Ukraine and Crimea, resulting in an album titled “In the Jewish Fields of Ukraine”, published in 1926 in Paris. In the beginning of same year Ryback moved to Paris and soon began to play a noticeable role in the artistic life of the French capital. In the late 1920s – early 1930s he had a number of personal exhibitions in various Parisian galleries. In 1932 a folio of prints of his drawings entitled “Shadows of the Past” were published. Various themes of this published demonstrated Ryback's unrelenting interest towards Jewish topics. This is confirmed by the ceramic sculptures which Ryback created in the last years of his life. ******* The Yiddish Book Collection of the Russian Avant-Garde contains books published between the years 1912-1928 by many of the movement’s best known artists. The items here represent only a portion of Yale's holdings in Yiddish literature. The Beinecke, in collaboration with the Yale University library Judaica Collection, continues to digitize and make Yiddish books available online. With the Russian Revolution of 1917, prohibitions on Yiddish printing imposed by the Czarist regime were lifted. Thus, the early post-revolutionary period saw a major flourishing of Yiddish books and journals. The new freedoms also enabled the development of a new and radically modern art by the Russian avant-garde. Artists such as Mark Chagall, Joseph Chaikov, Issachar Ber Ryback, El (Eliezer) Lisitzsky and others found in the freewheeling artistic climate of those years an opportunity Jews had never enjoyed before in Russia: an opportunity to express themselves as both Modernists and as Jews. Their art often focused on the small towns of Russia and Ukraine where most of them had originated. Their depiction of that milieu, however, was new and different. Jewish art in the early post-revolutionary years emerged with the creation of a secular, socialist culture and was especially cultivated by the Kultur-Lige, the Jewish social and cultural organizations of the 1920s and 1930s. One of the founders of the first Kultur-Lige in Kiev in 1918 was Joseph Chaikov, a painter and sculptor whose books are represented in the Beinecke’s collection. The Kultur-Lige supported education for children and adults in Jewish literature, the theater and the arts. The organization sponsored art exhibitions and art classes and also published books written by the Yiddish language’s most accomplished authors and poets and illustrated by artists who in time became trail blazers in modernist circles. This brief flowering of Yiddish secular culture in Russia came to an end in the 1920s. As the power of the Soviet state grew under Stalin, official culture became hostile to the experimental art that the revolution had at first facilitated and even encouraged. Many artists left for Berlin, Paris and other intellectual centers. Those that remained, like El Lisitzky, ceased creating art with Jewish themes and focused their work on furthering the aims of Communism. Tragically, many of them perished in Stalin’s murderous purges. The Artists Eliezer Lisitzky (1890–1941), better known as El Lisitzky, was a Russian Jewish artist, designer, photographer, teacher, typographer, and architect. He was one of the most important figures of the Russian avant-garde, helping develop Suprematism with his friend and mentor, Kazimir Malevich. He began his career illustrating Yiddish children's books in an effort to promote Jewish culture. In 1921, he became the Russian cultural ambassador in Weimar Germany, working with and influencing important figures of the Bauhaus movement. He brought significant innovation and change to the fields of typography, exhibition design, photomontage, and book design, producing critically respected works and winning international acclaim. However, as he grew more involved with creating art work for the Soviet state, he ceased creating art with Jewish themes. Among the best known Yiddish books illustrated by the artist is Sikhes Hulin by the writer and poet Moshe Broderzon and Yingel Tsingle Khvat, a children’s book of poetry by Mani Leyb. Both works have been completely digitized and can be found here. Joseph Chaikov (1888-1979) was a Russian sculptor, graphic artist, teacher, and art critic. Born in Kiev, Chaikov studied in Paris from 1910 to 1913. Returning to Russia in 1914, he became active in Jewish art circles and in 1918 was one of the founders of the Kultur-Lige in Kiev. Though primarily known as a sculptor, in his early career, he also illustrated Yiddish books, many of them children’s books. In 1921 his Yiddish book, Skulptur was published. In it, the artist formulated an avant-garde approach to sculpture and its place in a new Jewish art. It too is in the Beinecke collection. Another of the great artists from this remarkable period in Yiddish cultural history is Issachar Ber Ryback. Together with Lisistzky, he traveled as a young man in the Russian countryside studying Jewish folk life and art. Their findings made a deep impression on both men as artists and as Jews and folk art remained an abiding influence on their work. One of Ryback’s better known works is Shtetl, Mayn Khoyever heym; a gedenknish (Shtetl, My destroyed home; A Remembrance), Berlin, 1922. In this book, also in the Beinecke collection, the artist depicts scenes of Jewish life in his shtetl (village) in Ukraine before it was destroyed in the pogroms which followed the end of World War I. Indeed, Shtetl is an elegy to that world. David Hofstein’s book of poems, Troyer (Tears), illustrated by Mark Chagall also mourns the victims of the pogroms. It was published by the Kultur-Lige in Kiev in 1922. Chagall’s art in this book is stark and minimalist in keeping with the grim subject of the poetry. Chagall was a leading force in the new emerging Yiddish secular art and many of the young modernist artists of the time came to study and paint with him in Vitebsk, his hometown. Lisistzky and Ryback were among them. Chagall, however, parted ways with them when their artistic styles and goals diverged. Chagall moved to Moscow in 1920 where he became involved with the newly created and innovative Moscow Yiddish Theater. Cite as: General Modern Collection, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University ******** KULTUR LIGE : the Kultur Lige was at the heart of the Jewish cultural renaissance in Kiev, providing education and culture to the Jewish population. It had its own press, which published teaching material, literary and historical studies, literary journals, and children's books such as Troyer. The artists involved included Lissitzky, Ryback, Chagall, and Tchaikov, to name only a few. ******** LISSITZKY : Architect, painter, graphic artist, photographer, designer and art theoretician. Born in Pochinok village (now in Smolensk Oblast, Russia) Lissitzky studied at Jehuda Pen’s art school in Vitsyebsk (1903), at the Technische Hochschule in Darmstadt (1909-1914) and at the evacuated to Moscow Riga Polytechinic Institute (1914-1916). His first exhibition was in 1912. In Moscow, Lissitzky belonged to the Jewish Society for the Furthering of the Arts (1917-1918) the Club of Jewish Aesthetics (1917). In 1918-1919 he was a member of the arts section of the Kultur-Lige in Kyiv and illustrated Yiddish books for publishing houses in Kyiv and Petrograd. In 1919 he moved to Vitsyebsk, where he became a supporter of Kazimir Malevich’s suprematism, joined the UNOVIS group (Russian abbreviation for “The Champions of the New Art”) and headed the faculty of architecture at the People’s Art School. From 1921 to 1925 he lived in Berlin, where he establishes contacts with Avant-Gard groups and published his books About two squares (1922), The Artisms (1922, together with Hans Arp), among others. After return to Moscow, he lectured at the Higher Art and Technical Studios / Higher Art and Technical Institute (1925-1930). In 1928 the artist was appointed the chief architect of the Central Park of Culture and Repose in Moscow. Lissitzky designed numerous Soviet displays and pavillons at international exhibitions. He took part in many exhibitions in the USSR and beyond its boarders. Lissitzky died in Moscow. ********* ALTMAN : Painter, book illustrator and stage designer. Born in Vinnytsia, Altman studied at Odessa College of Art from 1903 to 1907, and in Paris at the Free Russian Academy (1910-1911). The Paris period in the painter’s activity is characterized by noticeable influences of Cubism and Modernism. His first exposition was in 1906. In 1912 Altman moved to Saint Petersburg. In 1915 he became one of the founders of the Jewish Society for the Furthering of the Arts and took part in its exhibitions. From 1922 to 1924 he was a member of the Art Section of Moscow Kultur-Lige. In the 1920s the artist worked as a stage designer for the Habima Theater and for the State Jewish Theater (GOSET) in Moscow (1920-1928). In 1928 Altman returned to Paris, where he lived until 1936. Up to his return to the USSR, he worked as a designer and a book illustrator (he illustrated Gogol’s and Scholem Aleichem’s stories, among others). Altman died in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg). ******** RYBACK : Graphic artist, painter, stage designer and art critic. Born in Elisavetgrad (now Kirovohrad), Ryback studied at Kyiv College of Art and at the studios of Alexandra Ekster (1911-1916). In 1916, according to the Jewish Historical-Ethnographic Society’s assignment, Ryback and El Lissitzky visited a number of towns in Ukraine and Belorus, where they copied the murals in the wooden synagogues and the carved tombstones on Jewish cemeteries. In 1917 Ryback took part in the Exhibition of Jewish Painters and Sculptors in Moscow. Reviewers wrote that he was one of the “most original and colorful painters”. In Kyiv, Ryback helped organizing Kyiv branch of the Jewish Society for Furthering of Arts (1917), of the Kultur-Lige Art Section (1918) and of the 1st Jewish Art Exhibition. In 1919 Ryback and Boris Aronson published the programmatic essay “Paths of Jewish Painting”. In 1920 Ryback after the moved to Moscow, where he lived for about a year. In 1921 Ryback moved to Berlin, where he became a member of the November Group and published two albums of graphic works, “Shtettl” (1923) and “Jewish Types of Ukraine” (1924). After his return to the USSR in 1924, he created decorations for the Ukrainian State Jewish Theater in Kharkiv and undertook a long journey through Jewish kolkhozes of Ukraine and Crimea, resulting in an album titled “In the Jewish Fields of Ukraine”, published in 1926 in Paris. In the beginning of same year Ryback moved to Paris and soon began to play a noticeable role in the artistic life of the French capital. In the late 1920s – early 1930s he had a number of personal exhibitions in various Parisian galleries. In 1932 a folio of prints of his drawings entitled “Shadows of the Past” were published. Various themes of this published demonstrated Ryback's unrelenting interest towards Jewish topics. This is confirmed by the ceramic sculptures which Ryback created in the last years of his life. *********** ARONSON : Sculptor, graphic artist, pedagogue, art theoretician. Born in Kyiv, Chaikov studied in Paris from 1910 to 1913 under N. Aronson, as well as at the School of Decorative Arts and the School of Liberal Arts. The artist's first exhibition was in 1912. In the same year Chaikov and a group of young artists founded the “Mahmadim” association. They also published a journal under the same title. In 1913 the artist took part in the Autumn salon in Paris. In 1914 Chaikov returned to Russia. The artist was an active member of Jewish artistically organizations and associations. In 1918 he became one of the founders of the Kultur-Lige Art Section in Kyiv. He illustrated Yiddish books, as well as taught classes on sculpture. In 1921 his Yiddish book, “Sculptore”, was published, in which the artist formulated an Avant-Guard approach to sculpture and its place in a system of the new Jewish art. In 1922-1923 the artist worked in Berlin, took part in expositions of Soviet art in Berlin international exposition. In 1925 Chaikov became a member of the Association of Soviet Sculptors (ORS) in Moscow, as well as a member of the artists' association “Four arts”. From 1923 to 1930 he teaches sculpture at Higher Art and Technical Studios / Higher Art and Technical Institute. ******* CHAIKOV : Sculptor, graphic artist, pedagogue, art theoretician. Born in Kyiv, Chaikov studied in Paris from 1910 to 1913 under N. Aronson, as well as at the School of Decorative Arts and the School of Liberal Arts. The artist's first exhibition was in 1912. In the same year Chaikov and a group of young artists founded the “Mahmadim” association. They also published a journal under the same title. In 1913 the artist took part in the Autumn salon in Paris. In 1914 Chaikov returned to Russia. The artist was an active member of Jewish artistically organizations and associations. In 1918 he became one of the founders of the Kultur-Lige Art Section in Kyiv. He illustrated Yiddish books, as well as taught classes on sculpture. In 1921 his Yiddish book, “Sculptore”, was published, in which the artist formulated an Avant-Guard approach to sculpture and its place in a system of the new Jewish art. In 1922-1923 the artist worked in Berlin, took part in expositions of Soviet art in Berlin international exposition. In 1925 Chaikov became a member of the Association of Soviet Sculptors (ORS) in Moscow, as well as a member of the artists' association “Four arts”. From 1923 to 1930 he teaches sculpture at Higher Art and Technical Studios / Higher Art and Technical Institute. ****** The exhibition "Kultur-Lige: Artistic Avant-Garde of 1910-s - 1920s" occured on December 20, 2007 - January 25, 2008 in the National Museum of Art of Ukraine. It was dedicated to the activity of artistic section of enlightenment organization Kultur-Lige (Cultural-League), which was active on the territory of Ukraine in the first half of 20-s – beginning of 30-s of XX century. In the exposition works of Mark Chagall, Alexander Tyshler, Mark Epstein, Elieser Lisitski, Josef Chaikov, Abraham Manevich, Issakhar-Ber Rybak, Boris Aronson, Nathan Altman, Solomon Nikritin and Sarah Shor were represented. 1910- 1920 is the period of Jewish life transformation. New Jewish culture was formed through dramatic events. Studying and trying to understand a phenomenon of Jewish life and Jewish culture development in Kyiv and Ukraine and also “Kultur-Lige” activities in the context of the epoch are of a crucial importance. It is necessary for understanding of Jewish history and culture of entire Eastern Europe. ****** Issachar ber Ryback (Russian, 1897-1935) attended the Art Academy in Kiev from 1911-1916 and was an important contributor to the Kiev art scene until 1921 when he moved to Berlin, where he participated in the historically important Berlin Secession exhibit. In 1926 he moved to Paris, where he worked until he died on the eve of an important retrospective exhibition of his work organized by Wildenstein. Ryback was an member of the Russian Jewish, modernist movement that included Lissitsky, Altman, Aronson and Chagall, all of whom were seeking to revitalize Jewish art during a period which saw the cultural efflorescence of Yiddish literature, music, theater, and art. ebay5408