Jewish Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. E. Ringelbluma

Language:: Yiddish; Polish; German; English; French; Russian; Spanish; Castilian; Hebrew

Scope and content:: The collection comprises materials generated between 1946 and 1950 by the Jewish Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts.

Organisational dossier:

- statutes, minutes and records, reports, proclamations: units 1-4;

- materials related to exhibitions held: units 5-6;

- materials related to competitions and contests held: units 7-9;

- lists of works of art (including those owned by the society): units 10-11

- publication materials: units 12-14;

- correspondence, incoming and outgoing: units 15-37.

Personnel and personal dossier:

- lists of society members’ names: unit 38;

- individual applications (including from visual artists): units 39-40;

- lists of visual artists’ names: units 41-43.

Financial dossier:

- draft budgetary estimates: unit 44;

- financial statements: units 45-47;

- bank account statements: units 48-50;

- accounts and bills, acknowledgements of receipt: units 51-54.

Natan Rapaport, Józef Sandel and others are mentioned in the personal lists of members.

Archival history:: After the Society was wound up in 1949, its resources were transferred to the Jewish Historical Institute [ŻIH] collection. The original volume of the archive and details of initial ordering or rearrangement work and sorting out of the collection remain unknown.

Administrative/biographical history:: The Jewish Society for the Promotion of Fine Arts was established in 1923 in Warsaw. The organisation held exhibitions of works made by Jewish artists and pursued educational activities through lectures or readings, artistic soirees, competitions and Jewish art balls. After World War II, the society resumed its activities in 1946, aiming to support and aid Jewish artists, organise exhibitions, promote Jewish art among the public, reclaim or recover works of Jewish art and collect information on artists killed during the war. The Society was dissolved under a resolution of the Central Committee of Polish Jews (Central Committee of Jews in Poland, CKŻP) on 1 October 1949; the Gallery of Jewish Art created by the society was made part of the ŻIH collection.

Finding aids:: A catalogue in Polish is accessible online.

It includes an index of personal names.

Renata Piątkowska, Żydowskie Towarzystwo Krzewienia Sztuk Pięknych (Yidishe gezelshaft tsu farshproytn kunst) – Próba kontynuowania żydowskiego życia artystycznego w latach 1946-1949 [w:] „Nusech Pojln”, red. M. Ruta, Kraków-Budapeszt 2008, s. 67- 99.

Ernestyna Podhorizer-Zaikin, A yor tetikeyt fun yidishe gezelshaft tsu farshproytn kunst, „Dos naye lebn” 1947, nr 81, p. 9.

Ernestyna Podhorizer-Sandel, Wspomnienie o Józefie Sandlu (W 10 rocznicę śmierci), „Biuletyn ŻIH” 1973, nr 1, p. 111-119.

Ernestyna Podhorizer-Sandel, Żydowskie Towarzystwo Krzewienia Sztuk Pięknych, „Biuletyn ŻIH” 1974, nr 3, s. 37-50.

Ernestyna Podhorizer-Sandel i Karol Mórawski, Z działalności Muzeum Żydowskiego Instytutu w Polsce [w:] „35 lat działalności Żydowskiego Instytutu Historycznego w Polsce Ludowej”, Warszawa 1980.

Z działalności Żyd. Tow. Krzewienia Sztuk Pięknych, „Opinia” 1947, nr 26, s. 13.

Author of the description:: Monika Taras; Żydowski Instytut Historyczny im. E. Ringelbluma; 2015