Jerusalem – At Art Auction Orthodox Jew Praised For For Not Selling Nude Photos

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    Jerusalem – An 1877 painting by French impressionist Camille Pissarro, “Peasant with a Donkey, Pontoise,” set a record last night for a painting sold at auction in Israel, fetching $580,000.

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    Rosette Antebi Pascal, sales director of the Matsart auction house, said she was happy to get that price even though it fell short of the work’s presale low estimate of $700,000.

    “The market is very difficult right now, and the Pissarro would probably have fetched more than a million dollars before the financial crisis,” Pascal said.

    She said that of the 230 lots on the block at Jerusalem’s King David Hotel, heavy with works by such Jewish and Israeli artists as Reuven Rubin, Marcel Janco and Moise Kisling, more than 60 percent were sold, for a total of $3.2 million.

    A painting by Rubin had set the previous Israeli auction record for a painting, at $545,000.

    The auction did not include any works featuring nudes, because Matsart owner Lucien Krief, a French-born veteran Jerusalem art dealer, is an Orthodox Jew.

    “Such paintings are considered by me and many of my regular clients as not showing proper respect for the female form,” Krief said.


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    19 Comments
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    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Very strange, usually antiques are a very good and safe investment in troubling financial times. More than people losing money, people are afraid to spent money, get ready for severe deflation.

    Big Masmid
    Big Masmid
    15 years ago

    I was so excited to read this post, wow, what a great Kiddush Hashem, we should be careful at what we look when we walk down the block, on the subway, Simchas, etc.

    shteig
    shteig
    15 years ago

    Pissaro is top of the line (and was Jewish) the low price reflects the economy

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    “Such paintings are considered by me and many of my regular clients as not showing proper respect for the female form,” Krief said. “

    Kindly explain that to me .I realize thats the talking point of aish and all the other kiruv orgs. However thats not the reason,the reason is because apparently the frum world cant control themselves and make the women pay by having to cover up.
    Its like some pyromaniac tries to ban matches and fires because he cant control himself……………………..maybe thats a bad example but you get my point .Why dont men just get a grip and take responsibilty if theyve got uncontrollable desires

    murray
    murray
    15 years ago

    Please clarify-if they didn’t Sell the nude pictures, then what are they going to do with them, burn them? Would it be permissible to sell them and give the proceeds to tzedakah, or would this be prohibitive gains similar to someone who steals money and then gives part of it to charity?

    Anonymous
    Anonymous
    15 years ago

    Hey guys, if you have good antique art, maybe you should try to hold onto it for a while. Now might not be the best time to sell. This does not mean it was a bad investment. You’ll probably fetch top dollar once the economy gets better.

    merkin
    merkin
    15 years ago

    You may find this hard to believe, but I have seen Jewish art from Italy from the 1600s and 1700s that have drawings of semi-nude people. I saw a kesuba with a a drawing of a woman waiting in bed for her spouse. The text was in Hebrew, a standard kesubah. Standards do change and one generation and culture obviously looks at things differently. If we applied today’s standards, much of Shas would be banned. And anyone who has learned in depth knows this.

    J.E.
    J.E.
    15 years ago

    There were paintings at this auction that were sold at a loss because the seller needed the money. On the other hand some pieces were sold at higher than the seller paid for them, just last year.

    Its best to be buying art these days vs. selling them… that is likely true for equities, real estate etc.

    Actually “Torah is the best sechora” so “chap arein”.

    Regarding the price of the Camille Pissarro (Jewish-French 1830-1903) which went for abit less than $600,000 – I do not think that it indicates a sign of these depressed times ( although there is no denying it is depressed times). It wasn’t his best work (which can go for over $1,000,000) and the estimate of $700,000 was just an estimate. In fact Christies had two paintings by Pissarro for sale recently at this estimate and they didn’t sell at all. So the fact that someone actually shelled out $580,000 plus auction fees off $116,000 in very impressive

    Collecting art is not foreign to Jewish families. In Europe paintings were widely collected by Yidden. In America and in Israel there are many charedish, heimish yidden buying art. Paintings are investments that can also be enjoyed while they go up in value. For beginners its best to follow the Judaica auctions and/or speak to people you know who collect art.