Smoke (1969) by Meer Akselrod
Courtesy of Estate of Meer Akselrod
Meer Axelrod worked constantly hard and purposely earning his living as a Jewish artist in some of the most difficult and challenging times imaginable in Soviet Russia. He maintained his vision to preserve a record of the Jewish people in Russia both as he experienced it and as it had been in the societal breakdown of one hundred years earlier. His piety was to his people – their joys, sufferings and struggles. It is a memory we do well to honor.
I am deeply indebted to the monograph “Meer Akselrod” by Elena Akselrod (Mesilot, Jerusalem, 1993) and the Chassidic Art Institute for information, background and images of Meer Akselrod’s work.
Richard McBee is a painter and writer on Jewish Art. Contact him at [email protected]