us-005578-irn50723-irn5784
type: RecordSet
physical characterisitics and technical requirements: Watercolor sketch with pencil underdrawing on off white aged paper. Across the top is a red/orange fringed canopy. In the left foreground, stand 2 women, turned to the right, with long head coverings, one in light purple, one in brown, holding lit candles. In front of them in right profile is a woman in a white veil and dress with clasped hands. Next are two men in top hats and long blue coats, one with a small piece of paper, the other with a lit candle; they are standing face forward, a step back from the couple. A bearded man with a blue cap and purple coat reads from a white paper in his outstretched arms. An ink design and an outline suggest a young girl seen from the back in the front center. None of the figures are detailed. Outlines of other guests are in the background; 1 man has a violin. Along the right edge outside the image is a column of penciled notes. On the reverse are 2 rough pencil sketches of a standing woman wearing an apron, her back to the viewer, looking towards abstract figures, with numbers inscribed in pencil. front, right, cursive, pencil : Rosu / opac / albastru / brown / ? / alb / ? / lila / orange / maro [Red / opaque / blue / brown / ? / white / lilac / orange / brown] back, pencil : 8 ½ x 9 ½ / 16 1/8 x 12 1/2
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1948-01-01
has end date: 1958-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: ron
has or had some members with language: eng
has record set type: Item
history: Albert Dov Sigal was born in 1912 in Cluj-Napoca (Koloszvar), in the Transylvania region, when it was part of Hungary and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the aftermath of World War I (1914-1918), it was conquered by Romania. His parents were Helen and Moses Sigal and he had a sister, Eda. His father died when he was three years old and though his mother worked hard to provide for the family, life was difficult and food was scarce. His family was not religious, though he attended synagogue. But from a young age, he was fascinated by the more joyful, communal life of the devout Hasidim. He joined the Maccabi Hatzair, a Zionist youth and sports organization. He graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts, specializing in painting, enameling, and copper engraving. In 1933, he moved to Bucharest. Albert exhibited widely and his work was acquired by the National Museum in Bucharest. But by 1939, he could not get work. He was arrested and made part of a forced labor battalion that repaired and built roads and railways. He had a near-fatal construction accident and then bribed Romanian authorities to keep him from heavy forced labor, until a non-Jewish Romanian artist friend got him a position in a local museum, Pinacoteca Statului. He joined with a group of artists, led by Maxi, to begin an underground art school. Romania had a long tradition of vicious antisemitism which was emboldened by the rise of Nazi Germany. Following years of near civil war, General Antonescu and the fascist Iron Guard seized power in late 1940. Jewish businesses were confiscated, property destroyed, and physical attacks and the murder of Jews became commonplace. In January 1941, there were pogroms throughout the country; the one in Bucharest had events of great savagery, such as the assembly and murder of dozens of Jews, including Albert’s uncle-in-law, in the slaughterhouse. In mid-1941, he married Rozi Cohn, who was active in the Zionist movement, Hanoar Hatzioni. She was born on August 22, 1922, in…
history: The watercolor sketch was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1992 by Rose Sigal Ibsen, the wife of Albert Dov Sigal.
identifier: irn5784
is or was included in: us-005578-irn50723
record resource extent: overall: Height: 8.875 inches (22.543 cm) | Width: 12.250 inches (31.115 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Watercolor sketch created by Albert Dov Sigal from 1948-1958 when he lived in Israel. The sketch depicts a woman in a white dress and veil with a man in a top hat standing in front of a rabbi reading from a paper under an orange wedding canopy. Behind them are guests in blues and purples holding lit candles. It was created as a preparatory sketch for a later work. It is a version of the scene portrayed in 1992.113.2. There is a sketch of a woman on the back. In 1939, Sigal was arrested by the fascist, antisemitic Romanian government and assigned to a forced labor battalion that repaired and built roads and railways. He started an underground art school with a group of friends and was active in the Romanian resistance. On December 27, 1947, he and his family sailed from Burgas, Bulgaria, towards Palestine aboard the Aliyah Bet illegal immigrant ship, Pan York. Palestine was ruled by the British under a United Nations mandate and the postwar immigration policy was very restrictive. Ships attempting to bring unauthorized refugees to the country were stopped and the passengers were interned. Sigal, his wife, Rozi, and their young son, Daniel, were imprisoned in a detention camp on Cyprus on December 31, 1947. Because his son was only 18 months old, Sigal and his family were permitted to enter Palestine on February 22, 1948. On May 14, the state of Israel was established and, within six months, all the refugees on Cyprus were welcomed into the Jewish homeland.
title: Albert Dov Sigal watercolor sketch of a rabbi with a bridal couple under an orange chuppah with guests holding lit candles with a rough pencil sketch on the reverse