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Metadata
Artist |
Kaplan, Anatoli |
Object Name |
Drypoint |
Title |
Kapparot, from Remembrance of Rogachev |
Date |
1978 |
Medium |
Drypoint etching |
Edition |
11/15 |
Dimensions |
Image: 10 5/8 x 7 in. (27 x 17.8 cm) Sheet: 17 5/8 x 13 1/2 in. (44.8 x 33.7 cm) |
Accession Number |
86.07.17 |
Credit line |
Gift of Alexander M. Shedrinsky |
About This Work |
A master lithographer, Anatoli Kaplan began to employ etching late in life and used the medium to create one of his last graphic series, Remembrance of Rogachev (1973-1980). The spare, linear compositions reduce to their essentials familiar scenes from shtetl life-evocative of the vanishing world of the town of the artist's birth. In Sukkot, a man recites the blessing of the lulav (comprised of a myrtle, palm frond, and willow) and etrog-performed during the fall harvest festival, which commemorates the wanderings of the Israelites during the Exodus. Kaplan also depicts kapparot, a custom observed by some Jews before the holiday of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement), in which one swings a rooster (for men) or a chicken (for women) around one's head; the bird is then slaughtered as a sacrifice and given to charity. Kaplan studied at the Leningrad Academy of Arts and the Leningrad Lithography Workshop. He was a member of the Artists Union, which allowed him to officially work and exhibit in the Soviet Union. Beginning in the 1950s he completed numerous portfolios illustrating Jewish stories and folktales. The Grosvenor Gallery in London, which first included his work in both group and solo exhibitions in 1961, brought Kaplan to public attention in the West. Supporters in the United States also promoted his work. Envisioning the Sacred: Modern Art from the Collection, March 1–June 21, 2026, online exhibition catalogue. |
Search Terms |
Jewish Holidays Kapporot Leningrad Experimental Graphics Laboratory (LEGL) Russia Russian Artists Soviet Bloc Artists Soviet Jewish artists Soviet Russia Sukkot |
Legal Status |
The artist or artist's estate retains all copyrights to their work. |