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The painting’s title, 'Shtetl', refers to the traditional Jewish village or small town with its tightly-knit community that was common throughout Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. Kowalska conjures up a classic Polish shtetl with archetypal villagers gathering round the water pump at its centre. Nevertheless, a horse-drawn cart winding up a street lined with typical, single-story houses warns of a fast-disappearing way of life as it disappears into a narrowing perspective. Pavements and streetlights signal approaching modernisation and a church in the distance underlines the presence of the wider community. Originally from Poland, Kowalska lived in Berlin and Paris, where she worked among the École de Paris (a loose group of mainly Jewish émigré painters).
Ben Uri Gallery & Museum
London
Title
Shtetl
Date
1934
Medium
oil on canvas
Measurements
H 45 x W 60 cm
Accession number
1987-187
Acquisition method
gift from Mosheh Oved
Work type
Painting
Inscription description
1934
