Abel Pann

The Five Books of Moses (Complete Portfolio of 47 Original Lithographs)

Abel Pann's magnum opus, The Five Books of Moses, was published in Jerusalem in 1930. It was initially intended to contain 100 original lithographs but Pann decided to publish the portfolio with 47 lithographs, probably with the idea of printing and publishing the remainder at a later date. In his foreword Abel Pann writes, "A son of the race which produced this marvellous Book, I feel that I, better than some others, may be able to seize its true spirit, and to communicate it to my fellow-men. But the absolute truth is with God alone. Mankind is ever subject to error. And so I entreat the indulgence of my judges."

The size of the edition for The Five Books of Moses is at present unknown, however, a French edition of the portfolio was printed at about the same time and issued under the title, La Bible. It was published in an edition of 600 with only the first 25 bearing hand-signed impressions. It is probable that the English edition was published in about the same numbers. Whatever the case, to now find another complete set of hand-signed impressions is exceedingly rare.

The Five Books of Moses was a monumental undertaking. Abel Pann's first set of Biblical lithographs, The Bible, was published in Jerusalem in 1924. It consisted of 25 lithographs covering the period from the Creation to the Deluge. For the following five years he dedicated his work almost exclusively to The Five Books of Moses. A meticulous artist, Pann often worked from life models, making preparatory drawings in pastels before creating the color lithographs. For example, the young women and brides depicted in the portfolio, were based upon Yemenite and Bedouin models. Similarly, the faces of prophets and patriarchs were drawn from the venerable inhabitants of Jerusalem. Abel Pann sought for the true likenesses of the ancient peoples who make up the Books of Genesis and Exodus. Whether expressing sorrow, anguish, fear, guilt, envy, humility, devotion or joy, their unforgettable faces and gestures ring true to the drama of these monumental Books, and place Abel Pann's lithographs among the greatest works of religious art of any time.

Complete Portfolio of 47 Original Lithographs by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann.

The Five Books of Moses

View other original works of art by Abel Pann.

Abel Pann (Kreslawka, Vitebsk, White Russia, 1883 - Jerusalem, 1963)
#	Image	Title, Medium & Artist	Medium	Date	Publisher
01-		The Bible - Genesis: From the Creation until the Deluge (The Complete Portfolio of Twenty-Five Original Lithographs) by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann	25 Original Lithographs	1924	The Palestine Art Publishing Company, Jerusalem
02.-		The Five Books of Moses (Complete Portfolio of Forty Seven Original, Hand-Signed Lithographs) by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann	47 Original, Lithographs	1930	The Palestine Art Publishing Company, Jerusalem

View a few of the original lithographs by Abel Pann included in this portfolio.

*Eight Examples of Abel Pann's original lithographs from The Five Books of Moses* Portfolio**
#	Click below to view larger Image	Title, Medium & Artist	Medium	Date
01-		The Garden of Eden. Genesis II-8. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
02-		Cain was a tiller of the ground. Genesis IV-2. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
03-		Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars. Genesis XVI-5, [Abraham]. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
04.-		And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. Genesis XXI-14, [Hagar and Ishmael]. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
05.-		And Abraham bound Isaac, his son and laid him on the Alter upon the wood. Genesis XXII-9. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
06.-		And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice and wept. Genesis XXIX-11. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
07.-		And when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. Exodus II-6, [The finding of Moses]. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithograph	1930
08.-		Frontispiece: The People Saw It. Exodus XX-18. Genesis IV, 2. Original lithograph by Abel Pann.	Original Lithograph	1930

View other original works of art created by Israeli artists.

Original Isreali Art
#	Image	Title & Artist	Medium	Date	Artists	Notes	-
01.-		Rooster by the Israeli artist, Amram Ebgi	Original Deep Etching	c. 1970 - 1980	Ebgi, Amram (Morocco, 1939 - Resides, Israel)	Signed in pencil, and annotated, "A/P" (Artist Proof) 10 by Amram Ebgi.
02.-		Horsemen by Isreali artist, Nissan Engel	Original Photo-Lithograph	c. 1973	Engel, Nissan (Born, Haifa, Israel, 1931 - Resides, Paris)	Signed and numbered, '41/125', by Nissan Engel in pencil along the lower margin.	Sold
03.-		Untitled Composition by the Israeli artist, Mireille Kramer	Original Deep Etching & Aquatint	c. 1970	Kramer, Mireille (Cairo, Egypt, 1932 - Resides, Ein Hod, Israel)	Signed in pencil and numbered, ‘32 / 125’ by Mireille Kramer along the lower margin.
04.-		Portrait Study, Safed by the Israeli artist, Arieh Merzer	Original watercolor	1962	Merzer, Arieh (Warsaw, Poland, 1905 - Safed, Israel, 1966)	Signed and dated by Arieh Merzer to the lower left	Sold
05.-		View in Palestine by the German / Israeli artist, Jakob Nussbaum	Original Drypoint Engraving	1925	Nussbaum, Jakob (Rhina (Germany), 1873 - Afula (Israel), 1936)	Signed in pencil by Jakob Nussbaum along the lower right margin, and signed and dated with his ‘JN’ monogram in the plate to the lower left.	Sold
06.-		The Bible - Genesis: From the Creation until the Deluge by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann	The Complete Portfolio of 25 Original Color Lithographs	1924	Pann, Abel (Kreslawka, Vitebsk, White Russia, 1883 - Jerusalem, 1963)	Signed in the stone by Abel Pann, under the images.
07.-		The Five Books of Moses by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann	Complete Portfolio of 47 Original Lithographs	1930	Pann, Abel (Kreslawka, Vitebsk, White Russia, 1883 - Jerusalem, 1963)	Signed in pencil by Abel Pann (within the images), and signed in the stone (below the images).
08.-		Harbour by the German / Israeli artist, Jacob Pins 'Yaacov Pins	Original Woodcut in Two Colours	1955	Pins, Jacob 'Yaacov' (Hoexter, Germany, 1917 - Jerusalem, Israel, 2005)	Signed, dated and numbered, '22/33'in pencil by Jacob Pins (in both English and Hebrew) along the lower margin.
09.-		Peacock by the Polish / Israeli artist, Pinchas Shaar	Original Color Lithograph	c. 1970	Shaar, Pinchas (Lotz, Poland, 1923 - Israel, 1996)	Signed and numbered, '68/100', by Pinchas Shaar in pencil along the lower margin.
10.-		Righteous by the Israeli artist, David Sharir	Original Silkscreen (Serigraph)	c. 1980	Sharir, David (Israel, Born, 1938 - Resides, Jaffa, Israel)	Signed and numbered, '1/250' by David Sharir in pencil on the lower margin, and also bears the 'transworld art' seal on the verso.
11.-		Beggars Sleeping Outdoors by the Russian / Israeli artist, Miron Sima	Original Colour Woodcut	1959	Sima, Miron (Proskurov, Russia, 1902 - Jerusalem, 1999)	Signed, titled, dated and numbered '3/35' by Miron Sima in white conte crayon along the lower margin.	Sold
12.-		Summer by the Israeli artist, Yigal Zemer	Original Embossed Intaglio	1977	Zemer, Yigal (Born, Kibutz Beit Alfa, Israel, 1938 - Resides, Tel Aviv)	Signed, titled, dated and numbered, “57/75”, by Yigal Zemer in pencil along the lower margin, and bears the artist’s “Y.ZE” blindstamp to the lower right.

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Title:	The Five Books of Moses (Complete Portfolio of 47 Original Lithographs)
Artist:	Pann, Abel (Kreslawka, Vitebsk, White Russia, 1883 - Jerusalem, 1963)
Date:	1930
Medium:	The Complete Portfolio of 47 Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithographs
Publisher:	The Palestine Art Publishing Company, Jerusalem
Note:	Abel Pann: A prominent and influential member of the first generation of Israeli artists, Abel Pann first studied art techniques in Vitebsk, under Yehuda Pen. He then travelled within Russia and Poland, earning a living mostly as a sign painter. In 1898 Abel Pann enrolled in the Academy of Fine Arts, Odessa. Five years later he visited Kishinev and chronicled the impoverished living conditions of the pogrom residents there. This would form the genesis of the drawings and lithographs he made during World War One concerning the extreme sufferings of those living in the Russian pogroms. Pann was in Paris during the war and intended to publish his lithographs of the Russian pogroms under the title, Road of Tears; however, the Russian Minister in Paris convinced French officials to forbid its publication.
	Abel Pann first moved to Paris in 1903, renting rooms in a building which was called, 'La Ruche' ('The Hive'). Other occupants there included Marc Chagall, Chaim Soutine and Amedeo Modigliani. Pann enrolled at the Academie des Beaux-Arts to study painting under Bourguereau. At the same time he began illustrating for journals and newspapers. By 1912 Abel Pann had established enough recognition for his art that Boris Schatz, the founder and first director of the Bezalel Academy of Arts, invited him to work in Jerusalem. Pann visited the city in the following year and decided to make it his permanent home. He returned to Paris to settle his affairs but was forced to stay there due to the outbreak of the First World War (1914-1918). At this time he created posters and prints for the Allied Cause, as well as the suppressed Road of Tears portfolio of lithographs.
	Pann permanently settled in Jerusalem in 1920. In this year his paintings, drawings and lithographs were the subject of a large exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago. Consequently in the following years there were many American collectors of his art.
	Abel Pann took a teaching post at the Bezalel Academy and imported a lithographic press from Vienna, which was the first in Jerusalem. He began working almost immediately on the lithographs for The Bible (1924) and The Five Books of Moses (1930), and dedicated most of his efforts to these lithographic portfolios during the decade. In fact he resigned from his teaching post at the Academy in 1924 to devote all his energies to the Biblical lithographs.
	Abel Pann's later years saw their share of misfortunes. As the decade of the Depression took its toll, customers, both at home and abroad, for his lithographs and paintings diminished. As well, the twentieth century taste for abstraction and other avante guarde movements slotted his representational style as archaic. Pann lost a son in the Israeli War of Independence and dedicated his final years mostly to paintings images relating to the Holocaust.
	Today the fine art of Abel Pann is included in the permanent collections of the Hecht Museum, University of Haifa, Haifa Museum of Art, The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Tel Aviv Museum of Art, Jewish Museum, Prague, Duke University Library, and the Tyler Museum of Art, Tyler, Texas.
Provenance:	The Five Books of Moses (Complete Portfolio of 47 Original Lithographs) by by the Israeli artist, Abel Pann hails from the estate of Leroy Latham (1874-1938) and thence to his heirs. Leroy Latham was Chairman of Latham Lithographing Company (Latham Litho & Printing Co.). Situated in Brooklyn, New York, it was one of America's largest lithographic printing establishments in the early twentieth century. His large print collection consisted of many fine examples of French and British nineteenth century lithographs as well as contemporary lithographs, etchings and wood engravings.
Size:	(15 1/2 X 11 1/2 size of 45 lithographs) and (15 1/2 X 23 size of two lithographs) (Sizes in inches are approximate, height preceding width of paper margins.)
Buy Now	Price: $7,800.00 US
Condition:	All forty-seven original lithographs are printed upon white, wove paper and with full margins. Each is signed in the stone (below the image) and signed in pencil (within the image). Every lithograph is loosely housed in paper matting. Lithographs #45 and #46 are double page works of art and thus contain the vertical centrefold. The title page and Pann's justification page (from which the quotation in the opening paragraph is taken) are present. The matted lithographs are housed within their original case, with linen boards and spine. Both boards contain some scuffing and staining.
	Forty-four of the forty-seven original lithographs are in excellent condition. Three lithographs (#11, #15 and #16) contain slight scuffing in the outer margins. Interestingly, they also contain parts of fingerprints in ink on the lower margins (recto) and to the verso. Unlike the other lithographs these three contain registration marks on the outer edges of the paper. Finally, all three contain small pin holes along the upper margins. In all probability, these were Abel Pann's printer's proofs which would have been fixed to the wall in order for him to compare the quality and tones of edition impressions. In conclusion this magnificent set of The Five Books of Moses represents both a scarce and very important example of the art of Abel Pann, one of Israel's greatest early twentieth century artists.
Note:	Leroy Latham's hand written notes concerning each lithograph for The Five Books of Moses is included with this purchase. He notes the "smudges" which I listed for lithographs 11, 15 and 16. This indicates that they were not added at a later date and thus more strongly indicates that they were Abel Pann's proofs.
	Complete list of the forty seven original lithographs by Abel Pann for The Five Books of Moses: - - - Frontispiece: The People Saw It. Exodus XX-18. Genesis IV-2. 01 - The Garden of Eden. Genesis II-8. 02 - And He took one of his ribs. Genesis II-21. 03 - She took of the fruit thereof and did eat, and gave also unto her husband with her. Genesis III-6. 04 - Therefore the Lord God sent him forth from the garden of Eden. Genesis III-23. 05 - Abel was the Keeper of sheep. Genesis IV- 2. 06 - Cain was a tiller of the ground. Genesis IV- 2. 07 - Cain rose up against his brother, and slew him. Genesis IV-8. 08 - The funeral of Abel. Genesis IV. 09 - And Noah begat Sham, Ham, and Japheth. Genesis V-32. 10 - Noah was a just man and perfect in his generations. Genesis VI-9. 11 - Jubal. Genesis VI-21. 12 - The same day were all the fountains of the great deep broken up, and the windows of heaven were opened. Genesis VII-11. 13 - He sent forth a dove from him. Genesis VIII-8. 14 - The Tower of Babel. Genesis XI-4. 15 - And Terah took Abram his son, and Lot.., and they went for with them from Ur of the Chaldees.... Genesis XI-31. 16 - So Abram departed as the Lord had spoken unto him. Genesis XII-4. 17 - Sarah. Genesis XVI-1. 18 - Look now toward heaven, and tell the stars. Genesis XVI-5, [Abraham]. 19 - My Lord, if now I have found favour in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee, from they servant. Genesis XVIII-3. 20 - Therefore Sarah laughed.... Genesis XVIII-12. 21 - And Abraham was an hundred years old, when his son Issac was born unto him. Genesis IXX-5. 22 - Then the Lord rained upon Sodom and Gomorrah brimstone and fire.... Genesis XIX-24. 23 - And they made their father drink wine that night. Genesis XIX-33. 24 - And the firstborn bare a son, and called his name Moab - and the younger, she also bare a son, and called his name Ben-ammi. Genesis XIX-38. 25 - And she departed and wandered in the wilderness of Beer-Sheba. Genesis XXI, 14, [Hagar and Ishmael]. 26 - And Abraham bound Isaac his son, and laid him on the altar upon the wood. Genesis XXII-9. 27 - Abimelech King of the Philestines [Philistines] looked out at a window, and saw, and behold, Isaac was sporting with Rebekah his wife. Genesis XXIV-8. 28 - And Rebekah arose, and her damsels, and they rode upon the camels, and folled the man. Genesis XXIV-61. 29 - And Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward Haran. Genesis XXVIII-10. 30 - And Jacob kissed Rachel, and lifted up his voice, and wept. Genesis XXIX, 11. 31 - Leah was tender eyed. Genesis XXIX-17. 32 - Rachel was beautiful and well favoured. Genesis XXIX-17. 33 - And it came to passe, that in the morning, behold, it was Leah. Genesis XXIX-25. 34 - Bilhah and Ziplpah. Genesis XXX-5-9, (3/4 length Sudy). 35 - Bilhah and Ziplpah. Genesis XXX-5-9, (Face Study). 36 - And when they saw him afar off - they conspired against him to slay him. Genesis XXXIV-18. 37 - And took Dinah out of Chechem's house, and went out. Genesis XXXIV-26. 38 - And sold Joseph to Ishmeelites [Ishmaelites].... Genesis XXXVI-28. 39 - And he left his garment in her hand and fled. Genesis XXXIX-12. 40 - And they took their Cattle, and their goods - and came into Egypt. Genesis XLVI-6. 41 - She took for him an ark of burlrusches [bulrushes], - and put the child therein; And she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Exodus II-3. (Horizontal Image) 42 - She took for him an ark of burlrusches [bulrushes], - and put the child therein; And she laid it in the flags by the river's brink. Exodus II-3. (Vertical Image) 43 - And when she saw the ark among the flags, she sent her maid to fetch it. Exodus II, 6, [The finding of Moses]. 44 - When Moses was grown, that he went out unto his brethren, and looked on their burdens. Exodus II-11. 45 - It came to passe, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus IIX-41. 46 - It came to passe, that all the hosts of the Lord went out from the land of Egypt. Exodus IIX-41. (With added Remarque, lower right) 47 - Dathan and Abiram. Numbers XVI.
Subject:	Abel Pann, The Five Books of Moses, The Complete Portfolio of 47 Original, Hand-Signed Color Lithographs, the first generation of Israeli artists, Bezalel Academy of Arts, Yemenite and Bedouin models, the Books of Genesis and Exodus, greatest works of religious art, Road of Tears, Leroy Latham, printer's proofs.
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