Leo Baeck College to Offer Works by Chagall to Wider Audience
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
Leo Baeck College will be offering for sale at auction 49 books signed and illustrated by Marc Chagall. The Chagall Collection of books was donated to Leo Baeck College in 1993 by Mr and Mrs Alfred and Irmgard Neuman of St. Paul de Vence, France. Mr and Mrs Neuman were neighbours of Marc Chagall in St. Paul de Vence for 30 years and had arranged for Marc Chagall to sign and illustrate each book about the painter, which were published over many years.
This collection of 49 books, with inscriptions and illustrations on the frontispiece made by Chagall, was donated to the College in recognition of its role in training Rabbis for an emerging Jewish Europe. For 50 years, Leo Baeck College was the only rabbinic seminary providing Progressive rabbis for post-war Europe, thereby re-establishing Jewish communities in many European cities. Since the College’s establishment in 1956, it has ordained over 175 rabbis and scores of Jewish teachers who serve worldwide but particularly in the UK and across the European continent.
The collection was exhibited once shortly on arrival and was then stored in the room for rare books in the College library largely unseen by those who would appreciate it. Due to the fact that the collection does not pertain to the studies at the College and was intended to be an asset for the College, the Board of Governors of Leo Baeck College has decided that the collection will be offered to a wider audience by selling it at auction for the benefit of the College.
The proceeds of the sale will expand and enhance the work of the College - which now includes the training and post-graduate continuing development of rabbis across the whole of Europe, as well as an internationally recognised Education Department for the training of teachers and educators for Jewish schools and communities.
Rabbi Dr Michael Shire, Vice-Principal of the College comments: "We were delighted and honoured to be the recipients of this much loved family collection, along with unique photographs taken by Mr Alfred Neuman of Marc Chagall signing the books themselves in his atelier. However, recognising that this collection will be highly valued by a wider audience, we felt that we now should make them available to a wider general public than is possible within the confines of a rabbinic college."
The collection will be sold at auction at Bloomsbury Auction House on January 29th 2009 and all proceeds will be used to benefit the work of the Leo Baeck College, which is a registered charity. Some alternative editions of the collection will be purchased by the College library to record and perpetuate the original donation.
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