Page 360 - The Legacy of Abraham Rothstein - text

Portraits: literary

wearing AR’s idea of Persian garb—a turban resting on a shawl
covering the back and draped over the arms like a tallit—also
sports a pointed beard and sits cross-legged, giving added
oriental flavor to the piece. It appears in a photograph dated
April 1956, providing a terminus ad quem for its creation.

49 Beatrice
Wood
16.25” x 2.5”
Inscription: Beatrice Divina Commedia (on base)

This character, based on a woman Dante admired from afar,
and who appeared, apotheosized, in the Commedia, may have
held an attraction for AR beyond the literary association. The
real Beatrice died young, and Dante portrayed her as an angel,
both in his epic poem and in a drawing he made. It might
therefore be supposed that AR was expressing his own grief
for his lost wife when he carved the piece. The workmanship is
not his finest, the female nude with wings instead of arms
appearing less than attractive, even grotesque. AR resolved a
similar problem (nudity versus modesty) in a carving of Eve
(no. 62) in slightly more charming fashion; here, the self-
protective position of the wings is awkward, leading the
viewer’s eye up the exposed abdomen to the rather droopy
breasts and unappealing face of this ideal woman. The eyes are
closed, suggesting prayer or death; this detail alone gives
psychological interest to an otherwise unsuccessful effort.

74 Hamlet *
Wood
15” x 3.5”

AR carved the melancholy Dane in full theatrical costume,
standing on a slightly domed square base. As in Act V, Scene 1,
in the eponymous play by Shakespeare, Hamlet holds a skull in
one hand, pointing to it with the other; another skull lies at his
feet, establishing the locale as the churchyard in which two
clowns have been digging. Hamlet, therefore, is just about to
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