Over three hundred letters, personal documents, certificates and photographs from the estate of artist Joseph Budko. Various places in Europe and Palestine, late 19th century to 1940s (several later items). Yiddish, Hebrew, German, Russian and other languages.
A rich and varied collection documenting the life and work of artist Joseph Budko – his childhood in Plonsk, his youth as a student at the Stettin Yeshiva, his early days as an artist in Vilnius, his work in Berlin, his immigration to Palestine and his appointment as director of the New Bezalel in Jerusalem.
Items include:
· About twenty five handwritten letters (Yiddish and Hebrew) exchanged between Joseph Budko and his relatives: three letters that Budko sent in 1903, while a student at the Stettin Yeshiva, to his parents in Plonsk and to his brothers Moses and David in Manchester (in the letter to his brothers he writes: "I am, thank God, healthy. I study diligently and at night, when I return to my apartment, I teach myself Russian, the Holy Tongue, Polish, German and mathematics. I do not regret leaving to study in Stettin"); three letters he sent to his brothers in 1903-1904, after returning from Stettin to his parents' house and before leaving to study art in Vilnius; ten letters that were sent to Budko by his father, Jacob in 1912-1927; and more.
· An autograph note by German painter and printmaker Lovis Corinth, commending Budko's illustrations to the Passover Haggadah (Berlin, 1917. German): "The undersigned inspected Mr. Budko's work and deems the 'Haggadah' an extraordinarily beautiful work, in its artistry and meticulous execution of details" (Budko created his series of etchings for the Passover Haggadah between 1915 and 1917; it was published in 1921).
· Three letters by Joseph Budko (Jerusalem, 1935-1936): a letter to his teacher and friend, artist Hermann Struck, a letter to painter and printmaker Käthe Kollwitz and a letter to Zionist activist Georg Landauer. German and Hebrew.
· A certificate of appreciation, handwritten on vellum, given to Joseph Budko by the students of the New Bezalel school in Jerusalem for his 50th birthday. Signed by twenty-three Bezalel students (1938).
· An album with about ninety photographs and photographic postcards documenting various periods in Joseph Budko's life (some are captioned; some with autograph letters on verso): photographs from his hometown, Plonsk – with his parents and brothers next to the family's house, in the Jewish neighborhood, in the synagogue and Beit Midrash (views depicted in many of Budko's paintings and prints); a photograph from the time he studied in Vilnius; photographs from the time he studied and lived in Berlin (one of the photographs shows Hermann Struck in Budko's house in Berlin); photographs from the time he was the director of New Bezalel in Jerusalem (1935-1940) – with his students during classes, workshops and exhibitions, and more; two photographs of Budko with Martin Buber; a photograph with Menachem Ussishkin; a group photograph taken during a visit of High Commissioner Arthur Wauchope to New Bezalel; and more.
· About 75 reproductions and photographs of Budko's works (some printed on postcards; others mounted on paper, titled and dated by hand).
· About 25 Yiddish poems (handwritten on nine large sheets of paper), presumably written by Joseph Budko (enclosed with the poems is a handwritten note, in Russian, dated: Plonsk, 1908).
· Documents and various personal items of Joseph Budko, 1908-1935: an anatomy textbook in Russian, inscribed by Jacob Budko to his son, 1909; Joseph Budko's Polish passport, indicating his discharge from the Russian army (Plonsk, 1913); Budko's diploma from the Kunstgewerbemuseum (Museum of Arts and Crafts) in Berlin (1914); a JNF tree donation certificate (designed by Emil Ranzenhofer) in Budko's name; a contract for the purchase of a house in the Beit HaKerem neighborhood in Jerusalem (September 1933); draft for the article "The Artist and His Country" (typescript, with handwritten corrections, 1939); and more.
· Personal documents of Budko's parents, Jacob and Feige Gitel Budko, 1871-1929: Tena'im contract (Plonsk, 1871); Ketubah (Plonsk, 1872); sale deed for a seat in the synagogue (Plonsk, 1871); a letter from the Russian military authorities (Plonsk, 1878); receipts and certificates related to the death and burial of Jacob Budko (May 1929); and more.
· Books illustrated by Budko (with etchings and woodcuts) as well as books, booklets and catalogues featuring his works, including: "Das Jahr des Juden", twelve poems by Arno Nadel and twelve etchings by Budko (Berlin, 1920) – two copies, one inscribed and signed by Budko; "Die Psalmen", the Book of Psalms translated into German by Moses Mendelssohn, with twelve woodcuts by Budko (Berlin, 1921); Haim Nahman Bialik's Writings and Selected Translations, Vol. I: Poems (Tel-Aviv, 1929); the eighth issue of the Jewish journal "Múlt és Jövő" ("Past and Future"), dedicated to Budko's works and accompanied by numerous illustrations (Budapest, 1918); four issues of the children's journal "Olami" (Warsaw, 1937-1938); "Aryeh Ba'al Guf", by Haim Nachman Bialik (Jerusalem, 1946); two copies of the booklet "The Impatient Sages, a Chasidic Legend", by Samuel Lewin (Tel-Aviv, 1976); and more.
Enclosed:
About 60 items from the estate of Esther Budko (Joseph's sister) and her husband, Aryeh Goldschmidt. Including about ten letters of condolences (Hebrew and German) which Esther received after the death of her brother (July 1940), letters, passports, certificates, tickets, notebooks and other documents. Various places in Europe and Israel, 1920s-1960s.
A total of approx. 330 items, size and condition vary.
Provenance:
1. Artist's estate.
2. Private collection.
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Joseph Budko (1888-1940), a printmaker and painter, typographer, book and bookplate illustrator and director of the New Bezalel.
Budko was born in Plonsk, Poland. His father, Jacob Budko, a grain and flour merchant, was a man of letters, one of the first members of Hovevei Zion in Plonsk, who instituted Hebrew as the spoken language in his home and instilled in his children the love of culture and music. Young Budko was educated in a "Heder" (religious elementary school) and at thirteen was sent to study at the Stettin, Mir and Łomża yeshivas.
At seventeen, Budko began his general studies at the gymnasium of Vilnius; at the time, he also started studying art, and after graduating from the gymnasium taught art at the girls' class by the school. He applied to the the St. Petersburg Academy of Arts, but was rejected for being Jewish. Budko moved therefore to Berlin, where he continued his art studies. In 1912, he was accepted to the Kunstgewerbemuseum, where he specialized in engraving, sketching, painting and applied graphics under teachers such as Max Liberman and Käthe Kollwitz. At the same time, he also studied the craft of engraving at the workshop of artist Hermann Struck. Struck's engraved and photographic portraits made by Budko testify to their frienship.
In Berlin, Budko gained fame as a Jewish artist by designing Hebrew bookplates for himself and for prominent figures in the Jewish circles of Berlin as well as illustrating books, some of them bibliophile editions, including "VeHaya HeAkov LeMishor" (And the Crooked Shall be Made Straight) by S.Y. Agnon (Berlin: Jüdischer Verlag, 1919), the Ostjüdische Novellen anthology (Munich: G. Müller, 1918), "Das Jahr des Juden" by Arno Nadel (Berlin: F. Gurlitt, 1920), and a Passover Haggadah illustrated with etchings (Vienna-Berlin: Löwit, 1921). Budko also designed publications and various logos for the Jewish National Fund (including the 25th anniversary logo, 1927); he is particulary famous for the jubilee edition of the selected writings of Haim Nahman Bialik (Berlin: "Hovevei HaShira HaIvrit", 1923) of his sole design, from typography to binding. He illustrated it with woodcuts, chose the fonts, decorated its title pages and designed its impressive initials and fine vignettes.
In 1933, Budko realized his Zionist aspirations and immigrated to Palestine. At first, he lived with his sister Esther Goldschmidt in Kibbutz Ein Charod, but soon settled in the Rechavya neighborhood of Jerusalem. In 1935, with the establishment of the New Bezalel Academy of Art, Budko was requested to serve temporarily as the director, until his collegue Jacob Steinhardt could assume the role. Due to circumstances, Budko ended up as the permanent director, and during the next five years dedicated himself entirely to management, which allowed him little time for his own art.
Budko died young, at the untimely age of 52, after an unsuccessful surgery. After his death, a memorial exhibition was held at the Bezalel National Art Museum. In his introduction to the exhibition catalog, Dr. Carl Schwartz, his friend since his Berlin days and the director of the Tel-Aviv Museum, wrote: "Budko started as a craftsman, as an artisan, and only in Berlin did he turn to the field of graphic art. He immediately developed his own style, the result of his intellectual background in general and Jewish education in particular: a blend of profound Jewish tradition and modern art.
No artist before him understood in such a profound manner the essence of Jewish decoration, which was dormant in our souls, hidden and arrested. Until Budko came and revived it. He rediscovered and brought us the gift of the fine Jewish book and created a new, modern form of decorating books uniting the ancient spirit and new perceptions.
Budko was the first amongst modern Jewish artists to use decorations and symbols as essential content. His unique talent enabled him to express a plethora of ideas with precision and perfection […] creating artistic enterprises […]
'New Bezalel' is entirely Budko's enterprise. The form of the school, its establishment and perfection are his handiwork. […] Now the school has been orphaned; Lost to this country, to the entire Jewish nation, is one of its finest fighters in the field of art…" (Hebrew).
Literature:
1. Memorial Exhibition for Joseph Budko (1888-1940) at the Bezalel National Art Museum (Hebrew). Published by the Supervising Committee of the New Bezalel Academy of Art, 1940.
2. Joseph Budko – Monograph (Hebrew), by Gideon Ofrat. 2005.
3. Joseph Budko and H. N. Bialik's Complete Works Edition of 1923, Modern Hebrew Poetry and Art in Harmony (Hebrew) by Alec Mishory. Published by "Am Oved", 2006.

Eight prints by Joseph Budko (1888-1940). [First decades of the 20th century].
· Three etchings depicting Jewish life in Płońsk, Budko's hometown ("The Jewish Street", "The Market Square", "Returning from the Synagogue"). The Plonsk synagogue is seen in two of the etchings. [1911?]. Signed in pencil.
· "Dream", woodcut, [1920]. Signed in pencil.
· "Preparations for the Sabbath Meal", woodcut, 1923. Signed and dated in pencil.
· "Jews", three woodcuts. Two of them signed in pencil, the third signed in the plate.
Size and condition vary. Some matted and framed.
Provenance:
1. Artist's estate.
2. Private collection.

Sixteen woodcuts by Joseph Budko (1888-1940) – illustrations for the jubilee edition of Haim Nahman Bialik's Writings published by "Hovevei Hashira Haivrit" in Berlin (1923). 14 of them are signed in pencil.
Size and condition vary (most of the woodcuts are small – approx. 4X4.5 cm to 5.5X5.5 cm. One approx. 16X12 cm woodcut).
Provenance:
1. Artist's estate.
2. Private collection.

Thirteen etching plates for bookplates designed by Joseph Budko, twelve of them accompanied by the resulting bookplates (hand-signed by Budko), and three additional bookplates made by Budko for himself and his wife. [Berlin, 1911-1919].
· Thirteen etching plates for bookplates: "Ex-libris Yosef Ben Yaakov" (Hebrew; an etching plate for one of the bookplates Budko had designed for himself, 1912), Maurice J. Budko (1913), Katia Roscamp (1913), Dr. Julius Meisel (1916), Irene Schwarz (1916), Rahel Goldschmidt (1917), Paul Sachs (1917), Dr. Karl Schwarz (1917), Karl und Elza Baer (1918), S. Bachrach (1918), Albert und Emmy Badt (1918), Rudolf von Goldschmidt Rothschild (1919), Exlibris Heinrich Eisemann (1916). All the plates except for the last one are accompanied by prints of the bookplates (signed in pencil, on the margins).
· Three bookplates designed by Joseph Budko for himself and his wife, hand-signed by him: "Ex-libris Rachel Budko" (a Hebrew bookplate depicting Rachel's Tomb, designed by Budko for his wife Rachel, 1911); two bookplates Budko had designed for himself in 1912 and 1917 (one with an illustration of a street in his hometown of Plonsk).
Enclosed: Joseph Budkos jüdische Exlibriskunst [The Art of Joseph Budko's Jewish Bookplates], by Avraham Horodisch (printout from Soncino Blätter, vol. III, 1929); JNF stamp, a woodcut designed by Joseph Budko (depicting a structure flanked by two palm trees inside a Star of David).
A total of 13 etching plates and 15 bookplates. Size and condition vary, good overall condition.
Provenance:
1. Artist's estate.
2. Private collection.

Joseph Budko (1888-1940), The Water Carrier, 1933.
Oil on canvas. Signed and dated.
46X37 cm. In a wooden frame. Good condition.
Provenance:
1. Artist's estate.
2. Private collection.