Schwarzbard. Paris: I. Grodzensky, [1928?]. Yiddish and French.
An album documenting the trial of Sholem Schwarzbard who assassinated Symon Petliura as revenge for the pogroms against the Jews of Ukraine. The album contains portraits of Sholem Schwarzbard, Symon Petliura, the defense lawyers and the prosecutors, the witnesses, the journalists and others, alongside photographs of the crime scene, Schwarzbard's shop, the court and trial, some of them captioned in Yiddish and French.
The album also contains short biographies of Schwarzbard and Petliura, a quote from Schwarzbard's lawyer, Henri Torrès, about the comradeship he feels for Schwarzbard, and quotes from journalist Bernard Lecache, writers Sholem Asch and Romain Rolland and socialist Jean Longuet about the guilt of the Ukrainians in general and Petliura specifically. Cover design by Marc Chagall; depicting an angel with its sword drawn hovering above a Torah Scroll.
Sholem Schwarzbard (1886-1938), "the avenger", a Serbian-born watchmaker, anarchist and Yiddish poet. He took part in revolutionary activity in his town and upon the outbreak of World War I, enlisted in the French Foreign Legion. Returning to Ukraine towards the end of the war, he organized Jewish militias for self-defense. In 1919, he returned to Paris, where he heard rumors about the Petliura pogroms, in which soldiers, most of them soldiers of the army of the Ukrainian People's Republic, massacred tens of thousands, some would say hundreds of thousands, Jews, including Schwarzbard's family. Symon Petliura, who headed the Ukrainian People's Republic, was blamed for ignoring the army's actions. In response to a Jewish delegation which appealed to him with a request to restrain his army, he said "The riots strengthen discipline among my ranks…".
In May 1926, Schwarzbard assassinated Petliura, who was then in political exile in Paris. Schwarzbard stood trial for murder in October 1927; yet the court was persuaded that Petliura was indeed responsible for the pogroms and acquitted Schwarzbard, despite his unhesitatingly admitting his guilt.
[19] photographs (printed on paper) and [4] text leaves, tipped in to the album. Approx. 38 cm. Good-fair condition. Tears and open tears to cover and to the edges of the album's leaves. Most of the album's leaves are detached. Several photographs are detached or partly detached from the album's leaves (with small tears along their edges). Stains to cover.

Verve, Revue Artistique et Littéraire, Vol. VIII no. 37 et 38 / Marc Chagall, Dessins pour la Bible. Paris: Éditions de la Revue Verve, 1960. French.
A double issue of the journal Verve dedicated to a series of bible illustrations by Marc Chagall, a series complementing his previous work, printed in issue no. 33-34 of the journal (see previous item). The issue contains 24 color lithographs by Chagall, in addition to 96 Heliogravures (reproductions) of his illustrations. On the cover of the issue appears an additional color lithograph by Chagall. Introduction by the philosopher Gaston Bachelard.
[9] leaves, 96 reproductions, [8] leaves + [24] lithograph plates, 35.5 cm. Good condition. Stains. Minor blemishes along the edges of the binding. Blemishes to the illustrated title page.
Provenance: The Rimon Family Collection.

Le Peintre aux trois Bouquets, color lithograph by Marc Chagall (1887-1985). [1982].
Print on paper. Signed and numbered 31/50.
48X66 cm. Good condition. Matted.

A Jewish Family, by Maurycy Minkowski (1881-1930). 1919.
Oil on canvas. Signed and dated.
Maurycy Minkowski (1881-1930) was born in Warsaw. As an infant, he lost his hearing and subsequently his ability to speak; nevertheless, he showed an early artistic talent and, in 1901, began his formal studies at the Kraków Academy of Fine Arts. With the outbreak of a wave of pogroms in Russia during the 1905 Revolution, Minkowski was greatly affected by the suffering of European Jewry which shattered the hope for the disappearance of anti-Semitism with the turn of the century; in his realistic paintings, he often documents the hunger, suffering and wanderings but also the happier facets of Jewish life and the place of women in Jewish society. His works were exhibited throughout Europe and in France he was even awarded an honorary medal by the government. In 1930, Minkowski travelled to Argentina, which was supposed to be the first station of a travelling exhibition which he planned throughout America, after which he meant to return to Poland and then embark on a journey to Palestine. When he was staying in Buenos Aires, he was hit by a passing car and killed. The Jewish community of the town, the AMIA, honored him after his death, purchasing many of his works that were offered for sale, and to this day owns a large collection of his paintings.
57X85 cm (70X99 cm with the frame). Good condition. Minor blemishes and chipping to color. Minor chipping to frame.