“The Eternal Light - Your Children Need Religious Education.” Poster designed by Lu Kimmel. Large-scale depiction of mother and two young children looking towards an illuminated Hebrew Decalogue atop a fantastical staircase.

(AMERICAN-JUDAICA).

c. 1930

Laid down on card. Framed.

A striking poster - a variant on the image created for the Jewish Education Association Ivriah, Women’s Division, the national women’s organization devoted to and successful in enrolling Jewish children in religious schools, founded in 1925. The image of the Jewish mother leading her children to a religious education is consistent with the spirit of Ivriah: “The Jewish Mother of today for the Jewish Mother of tomorrow” (JTA, April 28, 1933). This poster was likely issued to publicize their Scholarship Fund. Well known for his fifty Pulp Book covers, American illustrator Lu Kimmel (b. 1905) was active in the 1930’s through the 1960’s with art reflective of the period, i.e. detective, fantastical, escapist or ‘pulp’ fiction, including his celebrated cover of Mickey Spillane crime novel “The Long Wait” (Signet, 1952). Kimmel was also commissioned to design art for social and humanitarian projects, such as: the United Palestine Appeal (see 1937 Yearbook: “And Jacob Shall Return”), Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States and our example.