Todros Geller
American, born Ukraine, 1889-1949
Maxwell Street, Chicago, from Yiddish Motifs
INV-4535
Todros Geller
American, born Ukraine, 1889-19491926
Maxwell Street, Chicago, from Yiddish Motifs
Todros Geller American, born Ukraine, 1889-1949 →woodcutbook
Date
1926
Medium
Woodcut in black ink on Japanese wood veneer paper, laid down on ivory laid paper with letterpress in black ink
Dimensions
Image: 27.2 × 25.3 cm (10 3/4 × 10 in.); Wood veneer paper: 30.4 × 27.3 cm (12 × 10 3/4 in.); Sheet: 43 × 32.6 cm (16 15/16 × 12 7/8 in.)
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Location
Chicago, IL
Credit
Gift of the Artist
Geller’s Yiddish Motifs portfolio depicts scenes of Jewish identity and daily life in a series of seven woodcuts printed on Japanese wood veneer paper, an unusual paper choice, given that it was typically used for decorative purposes. Maxwell Street was a predominantly Jewish neighborhood on the city’s Near West Side, known for its large outdoor bazaar, sadly dismantled in the 1990s by development. These prints show a crowded marketplace, a vendor at work, a student in deep concentration, and a pair of street musicians. The Yiddish Motifs portfolio was a great success, with the entire edition selling out in just three weeks.
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