“In the Cyprus Exile, ” an album comprising twenty–six linocuts created by a group of artists–in–training, from among the Jewish exiles in Cyprus, under the instruction of Naftali Bezem. Cyprus, [ca. 1948]. Prints signed by the artists.
An album containing twenty–six linocuts (linoleum cuts) illustrating the daily routine of illegal would–be immigrants incarcerated in British detention camps in Cyprus. The album was put together under the guidance of Naftali Bezem and comprises the works of students in the painting and print workshop of the Rutenberg Seminar in Cyprus (an extension of the Pinhas Rutenberg Teachers’ Training Institute in Haifa). Only 120 copies of the album were printed.
The linocuts are signed in pencil by the workshop’s student artists. One of these students was Peretz Weinreich, whose artworks in Cyprus were published in several Israeli periodicals, and who, after the establishment of the state, served as a cartoonist for the newspapers “D’var HaShavu’a” and “Al HaMishmar, ” and was awarded the “Iparon HaZahav” Prize for his work in 2008. Other students included Nachum Bendel, Shmuel Leitner, Meir Wachtel, Baruch Randsburg, Baruch Friedman, David Tashamovsky, Avraham Sher, Chana Stern, Elisheva Heiman, Yitzchak Samushi, and others.
On the front flyleaf is a dedication (in Hebrew) – signed by Baruch Rubinstein, principal of the Beit Rutenberg Teachers’ Seminar in Haifa, who was the driving force behind the Cyprus Seminar (and eventually served as its principal) – “To Dr. Y. L. [Judah Leon] Magnes, out of our sense of esteem and appreciation, from the Teachers’ Seminar in Cyprus. 13th of Tevet, 5708 [December 26, 1947], B. Rubinstein.” Additionally, the following appears in the bottom margin: “This book was compiled, printed, and bound by the Department of Art Education of the Teachers’ Seminar in the Camp of Israel in Exile in Cyprus.”

The first linocut in the album bears a quote (in Hebrew) from the last will and testament of Pinhas Rutenberg: “… We shall be brothers in life, in action, and in creation.” A brief introduction appears on the following page: “Cyprus is just one station on the Via Dolorosa to the Land of Israel. The Jewish meaning of this [place] name is prickly barbed wire fences, forced idleness, and degeneration. Yet notwithstanding this state of affairs, [it is] teeming with life. We are informed of this in the present book by our colleagues from the Camp of Israel in Exile in Cyprus.” Both these pages are linocuts, as is the final page, which gives the list of prints. An additional print of a linocut appears on the original book binding.

The Pinhas Rutenberg Teachers’ Seminar was funded by the Joint Distribution Committee and functioned in Cyprus’s detention camps from mid–1947 till 1949. In the camps, the Seminar established schools that provided youngsters with an education in many different fields. Teachers were sent to Cyprus for this purpose. The staff members included such artists as Naftali Bezem and Zeev Ben–Zvi, who served as instructors leading workshops specially devoted to art.

The album was rebound with an elegant hardcover binding superimposed over the original illustrated front–cover binding. The album’s linocuts are separated by tissue guards.

[29] leaves. Approx. 49.5 cm. Good condition. Minor stains. Small holes to original binding (mended). Minor wear to new binding.

Enclosed: Final issue (“Jubilee Issue – Elimination Issue”) of the Cyprus detention camp magazine “Shurot.” Cyprus, 4th of Shevat, 5709, February 3, 1949 (single printed sheet, mimeographed).

Provenance: The Gross Family Collection, Tel Aviv.