Obj. ID: 37599
  Fine Art  New Year Bezalel Plaque, Jerusalem, circa 1910

{"184":"Boris Schatz (1867-1932) was an artist, sculptor, and the founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, established in 1906. Schatz was born in Varniai (today Lithuania) to a religious family and was sent to Vilna (Vilnius) to study in yeshiva. Later Schatz moved to Warsaw, where he began his life as an artist. In 1889, Schatz moved to Paris to study sculpture under Mark Antokolsky and painting under Fernand Cormon. In 1895, Schatz followed the invitation of Prince Ferdinand and moved to Bulgaria, where he founded the Royal Academy of Art in Sofia. In 1903, he met Theodor Hertzel and presented him with the idea of founding a Jewish college for art and crafts \"Bezalel.\" The idea was accepted in the Seventh Zionist Congress. In 1906, Boris Schatz arrived in Israel and founded \"Bezalel.\" \"Bezalel\" was closed down by the Ottoman authorities during WWI. Schatz was arrested and deported to Syria. With its reopening after the war, the school encountered economic difficulties. Boris Schatz died in 1932 in Colorado, USA, while traveling to collect donations for Bezalel."}