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Chana Orloff (; 12 July 1888 – 16 December 1968) was a Ukrainian-born French and
Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
i
Art deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
and
figurative art Figurative art, sometimes written as figurativism, describes artwork (particularly paintings and sculptures) that is clearly derived from real object sources and so is, by definition, representational. The term is often in contrast to abstract a ...
sculptor.


Biography

Chana Orloff was born the eighth of nine children in a village called Kamenka, also known by the name of Tsaraconstantinovka,
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(now
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
). It was an agricultural colony in the Kherson district, Alexandrovsk county, Ekaterinoslav (Dnipropetrovsk) province in southeastern Ukraine, on the coast of the
Sea of Azov The Sea of Azov is an inland Continental shelf#Shelf seas, shelf sea in Eastern Europe connected to the Black Sea by the narrow (about ) Strait of Kerch, and sometimes regarded as a northern extension of the Black Sea. The sea is bounded by Ru ...
, part of the
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. The largest nearby city was
Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
, the second largest port city after
Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...
in the Southern Russian Empire. As a teenager she took classes in sewing and dressmaking in
Mariupol Mariupol is a city in Donetsk Oblast, Ukraine. It is situated on the northern coast (Pryazovia) of the Sea of Azov, at the mouth of the Kalmius, Kalmius River. Prior to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, it was the tenth-largest city in the coun ...
to ensure she could earn a living and avoid an
arranged marriage Arranged marriage is a type of Marriage, marital union where the bride and groom are primarily selected by individuals other than the couple themselves, particularly by family members such as the parents. In some cultures, a professional matchmaki ...
. In order to escape the pogroms in this period in Ukraine, Orloff immigrated with her family to Ottoman Palestine in 1905 and settled in Petah Tikva (Gateway of Hope), the first Jewish agricultural settlement in Palestine. She worked as a seamstress designing and sewing European-style clothing for local Jewish settlers. Eventually she moved away from her family and rented a room of her own in the Neve Tzedek neighborhood of
Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...
, to be closer to her clients. Zvi Nishri (Orloff), the pioneer in physical education in Israel, was her brother. Orloff took class at the Gymnasia Herzliya, where Nishri was a teacher, and joined the Hapoel Hatzair workers movement and Hapoel Rishon LeZion sports club. After five years in Palestine, she was offered a teaching position in sewing and dressmaking at Hovevei Zion School for Girls in Jaffa. Orloff went to Paris to study fashion with the expectation she would return to Palestine to begin her teaching position. In Paris she took classes in drawing and fashion design and worked at the haute couture house of Paquin. In 1911 she matriculated at the
École nationale supérieure des arts décoratifs The École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs (; ÉnsAD) also known as Arts Decos' and École des Arts décoratifs, is a public grande école of art and design, constituent member of PSL Research University. The school is located in the R ...
in hopes of pursuing a career in fine art. She enrolled simultaneously in informal classes at the Académie Russe in Montparnasse. In 1916, she married Ary Justman, a Warsaw-born Jewish writer and poet. The couple had a son in 1918, but Justman died of
influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...
in the epidemic of 1919. When the
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invaded Paris, Orloff fled to Switzerland with her son and the Jewish painter Georges Kars. In February 1945, Kars committed suicide in Geneva, after which Orloff returned to Paris, to find that her house had been ransacked and the sculptures in her studio destroyed.Birnbaum, Paula J. (2015) 'Chana Orloff', in ''Journal of Modern Jewish Studies'', 1: 23, Routledge 2015/12/21.


Art career

In Paris, Orloff became friendly with other young Jewish artists, among them
Marc Chagall Marc Chagall (born Moishe Shagal; – 28 March 1985) was a Russian and French artist. An early modernism, modernist, he was associated with the School of Paris, École de Paris, as well as several major art movement, artistic styles and created ...
,
Jacques Lipchitz Jacques Lipchitz (26 May 1973) was a Lithuanian-born French-American Cubist sculptor. Lipchitz retained highly figurative and legible components in his work leading up to 1915–16, after which naturalist and descriptive elements were muted, domi ...
,
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
, Jules Pascin, Chaïm Soutine, and Ossip Zadkine. In 1913, she exhibited in the Salon d'Automne. After the establishment of the State of Israel, Orloff began spending an increasing amount of time there. The Tel Aviv Museum of Art held an exhibition of 37 of her sculptures in 1949. She remained in Israel for about a year in order to complete a sculpture of
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
, ''The Hero Monument'' to the defenders of Ein Gev and ''The Motherhood Monument'' in memory of Chana Tuchman Alderstein who died during the 1947–1949 Palestine war. After her return to Paris in 1950, Orloff received support and friendship from the Ukrainian-born artist Norman Carton to further grow her Parisian career using photography. She became a mentor to him. In addition to monuments, Orloff sculpted portraits of Israeli Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion David Ben-Gurion ( ; ; born David Grün; 16 October 1886 – 1 December 1973) was the primary List of national founders, national founder and first Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister of the State of Israel. As head of the Jewish Agency ...
and future Prime Minister
Levi Eshkol Levi Eshkol ( ;‎ 25 October 1895 – 26 February 1969), born Levi Yitzhak Shkolnik (), was the prime minister of Israel from 1963 until his death from a heart attack in 1969. A founder of the Israeli Labor Party, he served in numerous seni ...
; the architects Pierre Chareau, and Auguste Perret; painters
Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...
,
Amedeo Modigliani Amedeo Clemente Modigliani (; ; 12 July 1884 – 24 January 1920) was an Italian painter and sculptor of the École de Paris who worked mainly in France. He is known for portraits and nudes in a modern art, modern style characterized by a surre ...
,
Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...
, and Per Krohg; and the poets Hayyim Nahman Bialik, and Pierre Mac Orlan. . Orloff died in Israel on 16 December 1968.


See also

* Visual arts in Israel * Women of Israel


References


Further reading

* Birnbaum, Paula J. ''Sculpting a Life: Chana Orloff Between Paris and Tel Aviv'', Brandeis University Press, 2023. * Birnbaum, Paula J. ''Women Artists in Interwar France: Framing Femininities'', Aldershot, Ashgate, 2011. * Kikoïne, Yankel, ''Chana Orloff'', Paris, Musée Bourdelle, 1988, . * Kofler, Hana, ''Chana Orloff: Line & Substance'', 1912-1968. Tefen: the Open Museum, Tefen Industrial Park, 1993. * Marcilhac, Félix. ''Chana Orloff'', Paris: Editions de l’Amateur, 1991. * Musée Rodin, ''Chana Orloff; sculptures et dessins'', Paris, Musée Rodin, 1971, * Richard de la Fuente, Véronique, ''Dada à Barcelone, 1914-1918: Chronique de l'avant-garde artistique parisienne en exil en Catalogne pendant la grande guerre: Francis Picabia, Manolo Hugue, Serge Charchoune, Marie Laurencin, Olga Sacharoff, Franck Burty, Chana Orloff, Albert Gleizes, Kees van Dongen, Arthur Cravan, Otto Lloyd, Pau Gargallo, S et R Delaunay'', Céret, Albères, 2001, . * The Tel Aviv Museum, Chana Orloff: Exposition Retrospective, 120 Sculptures, 60 Designs, Tel Aviv Museum, 1969.


External links


Biography
in the Encyclopedia of Jewish Women at the Jewish Women's Archive *
Official web site
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Orloff, Chana 1888 births 1968 deaths 20th-century Israeli sculptors 20th-century Israeli women artists Jewish Ukrainian sculptors Emigrants from the Russian Empire to the Ottoman Empire Jewish Israeli sculptors Ukrainian Jews People from Kostiantynivka People from Yekaterinoslav Governorate Ukrainian women sculptors Israeli women sculptors Burials at Kiryat Shaul Cemetery