The Tailor

Created in 1918, 'The Tailor' captures Reuven Rubin at a pivotal moment in his artistic development. At just 25 years old, Rubin painted this work during World War I while back in his native Romania, having left his studies in Paris when the war broke out. This period marked a time of transition for the young artist—he had already rejected the approach of Jerusalem's Bezalel school and absorbed the modern European styles he encountered in Paris, yet hadn't fully developed the luminous, Cezannesque Israeli landscapes that would later define his career.

The subject matter is particularly telling: Rubin came from a poor Romanian Jewish Hasidic family in Galați, where his father served as a synagogue cantor and beadle. By choosing to depict a tailor—a common profession in Eastern European Jewish communities—Rubin demonstrates his early interest in documenting Jewish life and labor, themes that would evolve throughout his career. This work predates his 1923 emigration to Mandate Palestine, where he would become a founder of the new Eretz-Yisrael style, painting sun-bathed biblical landscapes and portraits of Yemenite Jews, Hasidim, and Arabs. 'The Tailor' offers a glimpse of Rubin's artistic origins, rooted in the intimate observation of his own community before he turned his gaze toward the pioneering spirit of the emerging Jewish homeland.