Jacob Otto Pins (; 17 January 1917 – 4 December 2005) was a German-born Israeli woodcut artist and art collector, particularly of Japanese prints and paintings.

Biography

Jacob Pins was born in

Höxter Höxter () is a town in eastern North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany on the left bank of the river Weser, 52 km north of Kassel. It lies the heart of the Weser Uplands, and is the seat of the Höxter district. The district of Höxter has a popul ...

, Germany, the son of Dr Leo Pins, a

veterinarian A veterinarian (vet) or veterinary surgeon is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, veterinarians also play a role in animal r ...

, and his wife Ida Lipper. He

immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

in 1936 to study art. His father tried to discourage him from becoming an artist for financial reasons. Pins's younger brother, Rudolph, (1920–2016) moved to the United States in 1934. His father was sent to

Buchenwald Buchenwald (; 'beech forest') was a German Nazi concentration camp established on Ettersberg hill near Weimar, Germany, in July 1937. It was one of the first and the largest of the concentration camps within the Altreich (Old Reich) territori ...

. In July 1944, both parents died in the

Riga ghetto Riga Ghetto was a small area in Maskavas Forštate, a neighbourhood of Riga, Latvia, where Nazis forced Latvian Jewish, Jews from Latvia, and later from the German "Reich" (Germany, Austria, Bohemia, and Moravia), to live during World War II. On ...

. Pins first lived on a kibbutz, which was disbanded in 1941. He moved to

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and studied woodcut and linocut under woodcut master and painter

Jacob Steinhardt Jacob Steinhardt (; 1887–1968) was a Germans, German-born Israeli Painting, painter and woodcut artist. Biography Jacob Steinhardt was born in Żerków, Zerkow, German Empire (now Żerków, Poland). He attended the School of Art in Berlin in ...

, also a German immigrant, at his small private school. He lived in poverty in a tiny room, subsisting on a meagre diet. He continued his studies at the new

Bezalel Academy of Art and Design Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design () is a public college of design and art located in Jerusalem. Established in 1906 by Jewish painter and sculptor Boris Schatz, Bezalel is Israel's oldest institution of higher education and is considered the ...

. Pins was married to Elsa, the subject of a number of his prints. They had no children. Pins bought his first Oriental print in 1945, and acquired a house on Ethiopia Street, opposite the Ethiopian church, where he lived for the rest of his life. He continued collecting until his death and was one of Israel's foremost art collectors. His book on Japanese

Pillar prints Hashira-e (柱絵) or Pillar prints are Japanese woodblock prints usually measuring about 13cm x 73cm (4.5 in. by 28 in.). They were originally intended to be hung upon, or pasted onto, wooden pillars inside Japanese houses. They probably serve ...

, ''Hashira-e'' is the definitive work on the subject. Pins died in Jerusalem in December 2005.

Art career

Pins' artwork was heavily influenced by

German expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it radi ...

and traditional Japanese wood block printing. From 1956 to 1977, he taught at Israel's leading art schools, most notably Bezalel, where he later became a professor. He was known as a demanding teacher, emphasizing strong technical skills and discipline. In the 1950s, Pins helped to found the Jerusalem Artists' House, a centre for the city's artists to meet and exhibit.

Legacy

Pins' extensive collection of Japanese woodprints, paintings and sculptures was left to the

Israel Museum The Israel Museum (, ''Muze'on Yisrael'', ) is an Art museum, art and archaeology museum in Jerusalem. It was established in 1965 as Israel's largest and foremost cultural institution, and one of the world's leading Encyclopedic museum, encyclopa ...

, where it forms the Jacob Pins Collection. Most of his own artwork was left to his home town and the Forum Jacob Pins museum opened there in 2008. Nimrod Erez made a feature-length documentary about Pins, and this is in the permanent collection of

MOMA The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

, New York. A shorter documentary is on exhibition at the Jacob Pins Forum, Höxter. The Jacob Pins Collection became a laureate of the WWKulturpreis (WestphaliaWeser Cultural Award) of the energy company Westfalen Weser Energie ge">:de:Westfalen_Weser_Energie">ge

Exhibitions

Jacob Pins: Woodcuts: Herzliya Museum of Art, December 92 – January 93

Published works

*Jacob Pins Woodcuts. Exhibition catalog, Boston, Boston Public Library, 1953. Paperback, 15 pp with six black and white woodcuts. *Master woodcuts by Jacob Pins. Oblong octavo, staples paper covers, 12pp., b/w illustrations. Introduction by Ruth Eis. A short catalog of the exhibition, May 5 – June 30, 1974, Judah L. Magnes Museum, Berkeley, California, 1974 *The Japanese Pillar Print, Hashira-e London Robert G Sawers Publishing, 1982, 389 pages, 14 pages in color and 1039/XXV11 illustrations in black and white. *The Pins Collection: Chinese and Japanese paintings and prints. Israel Museum, Israel, 1980 *The Jacob Pins Collection of Japanese Prints, Paintings and Sculptures. Israel Museum (Jerusalem) 1994 ().

References

External links

Jacob Pins Gesellschaft, Höxter website (in German only)

The Jacob Pins Collection in the Israel Museum, Jerusalem

from www.passportland.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Pins, Jacob 1917 births 2005 deaths People from Höxter People from the Province of Westphalia Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design alumni Academic staff of Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design Israeli artists Israeli art collectors