Judith and the Head of Holofernes.

RABAN, ZE’EV

Watercolor and pen-and-ink. Signed in Hebrew by the artist lower left. Framed.

Ze’ev Raban (1890-1970), a leading decorative artist and industrial designer, was above all, the pioneer of the Bezalel-Art style, which portrayed both Biblical and Zionist themes in a manner influenced by the European Jugendstil, alongside traditional Oriental styles. Like other European art nouveau artists of the period such as Alphonse Mucha, Raban combined Fine Art with commissioned works. Raban designed the decorative elements of such important Jerusalem buildings as the King David Hotel, the Jerusalem YMCA and the Bikkur-Cholim Hospital. See Tel Aviv Museum Catalogue, Ze’ev Raban: A Hebrew Symbolist (2001).