Page 34 - Studio International - August 1965

The Israel National Museum a Tabernacle in the Wilderness

by Charles S. Spencer

After 17 years of statehood Israel at last boasts a Palestine's bloodstained history and spiritual vitality,
national museum. When one compares nearby countries. modern Israel and her people are determined to be both
Greece for instance. where there are no national European and international. Despite nationhood. Israelis
museums devoted to European painting, let alone have not cast off the cosmopolitan sophistication which
modern art. it is no mean achievement. In part this is marked the Jewish Diaspora. and contributed so much
due to a genuine thirst for art. Indeed. Billy Rose. the to European civilisation. The minority status. and indeed
American impresario who donated the nucleus of an persecution. which drove Jews to an introspective
impressive collection of 20th century sculpture. as well curiosity and the need to prove themselves. is echoed in
as commissioning a delightful garden setting for it, the striving for viability by this tiny nation of 2½ millions.
gave this as the principal reason for his gift. living on a narrow strip of mainly arid soil.
Just as great sums of money and considerable This psychological force has made the desert bloom.
ingenuity and energy are expended on exploring the has seen a phenomenal rise in population. evoked a
rich archaeological past of this historic land-a retro­ military superiority over numerically larger enemies. So
spective nationalism common to new nations-so in the arts Israel seems determined to provide its popu­
similar national resources are freely used to ensure lation with amenities which richer. older countries
Israel's place as a modern. progressive country, in might envy. and its artists with outlets and oppor­
the mainstream of contemporary technological and tunities few contemporary societies rival. The fact that
artistic achievement. for religious. historical and social reasons Jews were
Lying in the dynamic crossroads between Europe late in emerging as significant visual artists. a fact often
and Africa. which were responsible for so much of commented upon by critics and historians. has also

Plan for the new Israel National
Museum, Jerusalem

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