Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first diplomatic representative in rank of plenipotentiary minister to Romania. He became one of the founders of the new Eretz-Israel style. Recurring themes in his work were the biblical landscape. Rubin have been influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau whose style combined Eastern nuances with the neo-Byzantine art. Signed his works with his first name in Hebrew and his surname in Roman letters.
Background
Ethnicity:
Born on November 13th, in Galatz, Rumania, son of Feiga and Joel Zelicovici, to a poor Romanian Jewish Hasidic family. He was the eighth of 13 children.
Rubin, Reuven was born on November 13, 1893 in Galatz, Rumania. Son of Joel and Fany (Rabinowitz) Rubin.
Education
n 1912, he left for Ottoman-ruled Palestine to study art at Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. Finding himself at odds with the artistic views of the Academy's teachers, he left for Paris, France, in 1913 to pursue his studies at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts. At the outbreak of World War I, he was returned to Romania, where he spent the war years.
Career
One-man shows Anderson Galleries, New York City, 1920, Studio Grivitzi, Bucharest, 1922, Tower of David, Jerusalem, 1924, Bemheim Gallery, Paris, 1925, Tel Aviv, 1927, Druet Gallery, Paris, 1928, New Gallery, New York City, 1928, Arthur Tooth Gallery, London, 1930, Bezalel Museum, Jerusalem, 1936, Milch Gallery, New York City, 1940, Retrospective, Wildenstein, New York, 1962. Exhibited in group shows Artists Organisation, Jerusalem, 1926, San Antonio Museum, 1945, Museum Modern Art, 1942, Musee National d’Art Moderne, 1960, Metropolitan Museum, New York City, 1952, Institute Contemporary Art, Boston Nashville Museum. Represented in permanent collection Museum Modern Art, New York City, New York Jewish Museum, New York City, Los Angeles Museum, Princeton Museum, San Antonio Museum, Musee d’Art Moderne, Paris, Newark Museum, Manchester (England) Museum, Melbourne Museum, Israel Museum, Tel Aviv Museum, Museum of Vatican, Rome, others.
Israeli minister to Rumania, 1949-1950. President, Israel-Rumania Friendship League, since 1967.
Works
Other Work
Author: The Godseekers, woodcuts, 1912. Visages d’Israel, 1960. Rubin-My Life, My Art, 1969.The Story of King David (Lithographs), 1970. Visions of the Bible (introduction by D. Ben Gurion), 1972. The Prophets (introduction by Doctor Haim Gamzu), 1973.
Membership
Rotarian (founder).
Connections
Married Esther Davis, March 16, 1930. Children: Daivd J., Ariella.