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Lot Essay
This ethereal and dramatic panoramic view of Jerusalem recalls Rubin's large format canvases which hang in the Knesset, painted in the 1960s. Here the artist demonstrates full mastery of his mature style. "Once he had interiorized his surroundings, so that mastery of the objects was no longer necessary, he could let go of the precise line and become immersed in the landscape, creating the atmospheric, hazy scenes.." so beloved by collectors. (M. Heyd in Rubin Museum Catalogue of the Permanent Collection, Tel Aviv, 1993, p. 104)
Gnarled olive trees dominate the foreground of the picture and there is a view across the valley of silvery leafed olive trees to the heavenly, mystical city which is bathed in a golden mist. Rubin has rendered an evocative and ephemeral vision of Jerusalem with a sensitive and delicate brush.
"Unlike the Tel-Aviv paintings there are no representations of a street or a quarter in the Jerusalem landscapes. It is as though Rubin felt one could not break up the entirety of Jerusalem. Nothing less than a wide vista would do justice to what he felt when painting the eternal city... The olive trees blend into the surrounding space, the Dome of the Rock is seen behind the wall, and even the wall seems to lose its material weight... for Rubin the legend of Jerusalem prevailed, and its landscapes remained a poetic vision originating in the mind of the artist and nurtured by his life-long love for the city." (C. Rubin, Rubin Jerusalem Landscapes in Honour of Israel's 40th Anniversary, Tel Aviv, 1988, n.p.).
Gnarled olive trees dominate the foreground of the picture and there is a view across the valley of silvery leafed olive trees to the heavenly, mystical city which is bathed in a golden mist. Rubin has rendered an evocative and ephemeral vision of Jerusalem with a sensitive and delicate brush.
"Unlike the Tel-Aviv paintings there are no representations of a street or a quarter in the Jerusalem landscapes. It is as though Rubin felt one could not break up the entirety of Jerusalem. Nothing less than a wide vista would do justice to what he felt when painting the eternal city... The olive trees blend into the surrounding space, the Dome of the Rock is seen behind the wall, and even the wall seems to lose its material weight... for Rubin the legend of Jerusalem prevailed, and its landscapes remained a poetic vision originating in the mind of the artist and nurtured by his life-long love for the city." (C. Rubin, Rubin Jerusalem Landscapes in Honour of Israel's 40th Anniversary, Tel Aviv, 1988, n.p.).