When Ben-Zion emigrated from Europe in 1920, his character and philosophy were already deeply formed by an early immersion in poetry, art, and an intrinsic power of observation.

For the next six decades he would move seamlessly between mediums—sharpened twigs dipped in ink—echoing the process of writing, oil on wood and canvas, etchings on copper plates, and iron sculpture. His prolific body of work weaves a thematically diverse narrative. Ben-Zion responded to the social upheavals of his time with canvases such as Lynching, The Glory of War, and De Profundis—works which he said sought “to get order out of chaos, and rescue images from oblivion.” Ben-Zion’s intimacy with the Jewish heritage of his childhood preserved his affinity with the Hebrew Bible, but the deeds of Gilgamesh and Enkidu, his masks, birds and insects, or Don Quixote of his sculpture stems from many sources, and from a spiritual affinity to a world that is not exclusively Jewish. His vast gathering and placement of naturalia, animal and mineral artifacts, pre-historic objets d’art, clay concretions, as well as countless other stones and figurines is a backdrop to the perpetual dialogue with the ancient and antique that is represented in his own work.

In 1935 Ben-Zion was invited to join a group of artists who decided to secede from the Secession Gallery. The Ten was established as a group of independent, expressionist painters who were synonymous in their opposition to the rigidly academic provincialist painting of the time. They were committed to “see objects as though for the first time”.

Comprised of artists such as Joseph Solman, Ilya Bolotowsky, Adolph Gottlieb, and Mark Rothko, they were self-described as “outcasts in the art world, struggling against the Establishment”. The Ten embraced various forms of modernism, which, in Ben-Zion’s case, meant Expressionism in the vein of Max Beckmann and George Rouault. Rebelling against the conservatism of the dominant American Scene painting, the group grew from an awareness of European trends, yet searched to constitute their own.

After The Ten disbanded in the early 40s, Ben-Zion moved away from specific references to contemporary events, turning increasingly toward myths and symbols as a source of inspiration. He composed works imbued with his deep knowledge of ancient literature, mythology, and Jewish folklore. His strong feeling toward nature found expression in landscapes of vast fields and orchards, and in still lifes depicting the stark powerful form of the thistle, and the lush red of the poppy.

Ben-Zion’s life is marked by a pattern of unusual constancy and clarity; the artist never changed, but rather, developed. His work was a constant flux and flow of transformation. He spent a lifetime looking into things, surrounding himself with them, allowing them to inform his work. Even with his writings and passionate proclamations, we can see over time that his silent philosophy, his creative “ethos”, had insinuated itself into an intense and simple way of being that allowed him access to the universal.

select exhibitions

1936 The Ten, Galerie Bonaparte, Paris, France

1945 Bertha Schaefer Gallery, New York, NY

1948 The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

1953 Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC

1959 The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

1978 Haifa Museum, Israel

1985 Terry Dintenfass, New York, NY

1986 Judah Magnes Museum, Berkeley, CA

1997 National Jewish Museum, Washington, DC

2005 Mitchell Gallery, Annapolis, MD

select museums

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY

Whitney Museum of American Art, New York, NY

Museum of Modern Art, New York, NY

The Jewish Museum, New York, NY

The Phillips Collection, Washington, DC

Hirshhorn Museum, Washington, DC

National Museum of American Art, Washington, DC

The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago, IL

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Philadelphia, PA