Hadassah Presents Lipchitz Work to Art Institute of Chicago

Three color lithographs by sculptor Jacques Lipchitz, who has been called one of the master sculptors of the 20th Century, were presented today to the Art Institute of Chicago by Bernice Tannenbaum national president of Hodassah, and Lola Kramarsky, noted collector and chairman of the Hadassah arts committee. The presentation marked Hadassah’s 65th annual national convention which will be held at the Palmer House Aug. 19-22. Some 3000 delegates and guests are scheduled to attend.

The gift was accepted by Harold Joachim, Curator of Prints and Drawings of the Art Institute. The lithographs will be shown until Sept. 6 in conjunction with other prints by Lipchitz from the museum’s collection as well as drawings and prints by other contemporary artists, including Henry Moore and Amedeo Modigliani, who were his friends.

The lithographs were made in 1971. While Lipchitz worked on his last monumental sculpture, “Tree of Life,” for Hadassah, he prepared a portfolio of three lithographs based on his studies. The lithographs were signed and numbered by the artist in an edition of 250. Lipchitz, who was 80 years old at the time, died two years later in Capri. He had revealed to Karl Katz of the Metropolitan Museum of Art that he had nurtured the “Tree of Life” for 30 years and saw this work as the summation of his labor, of his philosophy and of “the dynamics of our religion.”

Each lithograph represents a different view of the sculpture. One is predominantly mustard, one is earth brown and royal blue, and one is predominantly scarlet with black. On Sept. 21, 1978, the bronze monument was dedicated in Jerusalem at the Hadassah University Hospital, Mount Scopus, on the site selected by Lipchitz — overlooking the Hills of Moab and the Dead Sea.

Among those scheduled to address the convention is Israeli Deputy Premier Yigael Yadin, who will speak on “Peace — the Dream and the Drama”; Tannenbaum, on “Choice and Challenge”; Sen. Birch Bayh (D. Ind.) on “The Changing World — the Challenge to Americans”; and Simon Wiesenthal, head of the Jewish Documentation Center in Vienna, who will receive the Henrietta Szold Award and Citation. Governor James Thompson of Illinois and Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne will greet the delegates.