A Personal Odyssey — From Maimonides to Benjoya
These monotypes and the artist books are from a series in progress, linking my present life with my historical past. They are part of a visual history that motivated me to study my cultural heritage and to preserve it for my children and future generations.
My family are Sephardic Jews who lived in Spain from the Roman time until 1492 when they were expelled during the Spanish Inquisition. They left Spain and settled in Izmir, then part of the Ottoman Empire, where they remained until 1906 when my grandparents emigrated to Cuba and eventually settled in New York City. All this time they maintained their culture, language (15th century Judeo Spanish) and religion. My generation is the first not to practice traditional Sephardic religion and culture
During the process of creating this series I have researched and studied Sephardic art and history. My mother, Rachel Benjoya, read Ladino, the written form of Judeo Spanish, and Hebrew. She made a life-long study of Sephardic culture. She has been a great resource in developing this series. I felt that it was essential for me to pass on and preserve pictorially our culture to my children before the chain of generations is broken and the history lost forever.
The monotype prints, editioned artist book and photographs of family textiles and artifacts are arranged in specific compositions. These represent the work for exhibitions, completed to date.
The monotype prints explore a long history from Maimonides in the eleventh century to my mother’s graduation from the University of Pittsburgh in 1946. The monotype prints combine color Xerox transfer, collage, photography and watercolor on paper. They range in size from 22”x30” to 22”x15”. The transfer process uses methyl salicylate (wintergreen oil). The color copies were collaged and color copied then soaked face up in methyl salicylate and printed with heavy pressure through an etching press. Multiple runs were made in some of the prints to achieve greater color brilliance. Each piece incorporates images from traditional Sephardic art and refers to historical events while creating a new personal statement of my relationship as an artist to my family and Sephardic culture.
Monoprints and Textiles
Maimonides is a piece dedicated to the rich cultural life of Jews in Spain before the Inquisition. Moses Maimonides, a Sephardic Jew born in 1135, was a renowned theologian, scientist, legal scholar and physician who had great influence on Jewish, Christian and Moslem thought from the Middle Ages to the present. Solomon Ibn Gabirol’s poetry and image is incorporated into this tribute to the great Sephardic intellectuals. 22” x 30”
The Inquisition, The order of the Inquisition was signed by Queen Isabella in 1492. The office of the Inquisition was closed in 1968 by Pope Paul VI. 22” x 30”
The Veiled Woman is a memorial to all the Sephardic women in the Ottoman Empire who made the exquisite textiles of the Sephardic culture but remain anonymous. 22” x 15”
El Baile de la Esposada is a collage of a French lithograph from 1847 by Camille Roger “The dance of the fiancee, a Jewish wedding in Smyrna”, pieces of a Torah arch from Izmir and a map of the holy places from Istanbul, 1938. This piece creates an image of my great grandparents’ time in Izmir, a piece where the personal memories end and fantasy begins. 22" x 15"
The Merchant pays homage to my grandmother Dora Benjoya, one of the many outstanding artisans of the Ottoman Empire. The merchants are providing the women with silk, gold and cotton threads to produce their beautiful work. My grandmother’s proverbs are printed in Ladino and English in my mother’s handwriting across this woven piece. 22” x 15”
The Wedding takes place in Izmir in 1906 and marks my grandparents’ departure for America and the great disruption of families as many members left for the Americas, never to return. Families were ripped apart in this process and the culture began to fray. 22” x 15”
Cuba is an image of a photograph from my grandparents’ Cuban visa. Finding it difficult to make a living in Havana, they returned to Key West after a few years and finally settled in Brooklyn, New York. 22” x 20”
The Mark is my grandfather Isaac Benjoya’s signature (1894-1986). He was the family patriarch who held our family together spiritually and culturally during the transition from Izmir, Turkey, to Havana, Cuba, and eventually to New York City. 22” x 15”
The Graduation is an image of my mother graduating from university in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, in 1946. She was the first woman in our family to attend university where she obtained a master's degree. This accomplishment signaled a departure from traditional Sephardic culture. 22” x 15”
Benjoya Artist Book
Benjoya, Front cover, inspired from a decorative page of a XV century Spanish bible wrapped in a 19th century silver embroidered Benjoya family textile from Izmir, Turkey. 6” x 8 ½”
Benjoya, Left side is an amulet and the right side a print of a letter from my great uncle Morris Benjoya to my grandfather Isaac Benjoya in Rashi script, the written form of 15th century Judeo Spanish. This is a rare written form today. 6” x 8 ½”
Benjoya, Left side is a lithographic print of my mother Rachel Benjoya in 1925 in a photography studio, Coney Island, NY. Right side is a letter in Rashi script, the written form of 15th century Judeo Spanish. 6” x 8 ½”
Rachel Benjoya, a complex woman, Family textile and artifacts owned and worn by my mother Rachel Benjoya, arranged for the exhibition.
Isaac’s Prayer Book , Photograph of my grandfather Isaac Benjoya’s prayer book on a family textile from Izmir, Turkey. My grandfather, born in Izmir, was self educated and spoke eight languages.
Dolsa’s Doves, Bedcover embroidered by Grandmother Dolsa Nahoum Benjoya in Izmir Turkey circa, 1905.
Izmir
An artist book — Ellen Benjoya Skotheim
The book Izmir preserves the history of the Nahum Benjoya family by combining contemporary art, family photographs, documents and Sephardic artifacts. Using a personal lens, Izmir focuses on a 500-year period of history. Sephardic Jews fled Spain after the decree of expulsion, ordered by Queen Isabella and King Ferdinand in 1492. Izmir focuses on the group of Sephardic Jews who fled to the safety of the Ottoman Empire. The Nahum Benjoya family settled in Smyrna, now known as Izmir. After leaving Spain in the 1400’s they lived in Sephardic communities in the Ottoman Empire and have maintained Judeo Spanish until the present. Judeo Spanish is also known as Ladino and is written in Solitreo script, Rashi print and Roman characters.
The Nahum Benjoyas remained in Izmir until the beginning of World War I, when members of the family emigrated to Cuba, South America and the United States. Some of the family remained in Montevideo, Uruguay and Buenos Aires, Argentina. My grandparents Dolsa and Isaac Benjoya lived in Cuba before they settled in Brooklyn, New York. They were part of a community of Sephardic families from Turkey who lived in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Isaac Benjoya worked as a chef and moving man; later in life he had a candy and souvenir stand in the subway station in Coney Island, where he worked with his brother Moshon Benjoya. Isaac helped found Torah Israel, a Sephardic Synagogue on 13th Street in Brighton Beach and The Sephardic Home for the Aged in Bay Ridge.
Four children died before Dolsa Benjoya gave birth to her first child to survive. Rachel was followed by three daughters Luna Luisa, Calomira, and Estrea. Dolsa worked in the home, taking care of her family.
Bohora (first born) Calomira Benjoya, Isaac’s mother came to the United States after her husband Mordichai Benjoya died in Izmir. The Solitreo script letter from Moshon Benjoya in Chicago to Isaac Benjoya in New York is included in the artist book Izmir. The letter describes Bohora Calomira Benjoya’s fate when she arrived in the United States. The letter was found in Isaac’s papers after his death. It remained a mystery until November 2000 when Professor Isaac Jerusalami of Hebrew Union College translated it. (View translation)
Rachel Benjoya, the first daughter to attend Abraham Lincoln High School in Brooklyn, also in the art book appears with her parents. She graduated from Brooklyn College in 1944 and finished graduate school at the University of Pittsburgh. This was a remarkable accomplishment, considering the poverty and traditional roles for men and women in their family. Rachel collected the family photographs and documents that are included in Izmir. She made a life-long study of Sephardic culture and has been the inspiration for Izmir. In later life, Rachel recorded memories and her memories became the text for the art book.
The Nahum Benjoya family were poor immigrants and few documents and photographs remained to include in Izmir. Family photographs are fading and documents are crumbling. Using these for the basis of contemporary prints will extend their lifetime. This history is important for members of the family and in preserving the Sephardic culture for the future.
Izmir
The cover of the portfolio is a watermark in cotton and flax handmade paper. The watermark is in Solitreo script but remained a mystery until Professor Isaac Jerusalami translated it. (View translation)
The interior of the portfolio is a map dated 1893 of Turkey in Asia with an inset of Smyrna (Izmir). All pages are handmade Gampi paper, made from a plant grown in Asia. Gampi used for ancient text is some of the earliest paper. Individual sheets of Gampi paper were formed to assemble Izmir, an artist book that can survive for the next 500 years.
The book contains 40 prints and 22 pages of Rachel Benjoya’s memories. (View text from book)
Watermark Paper Collages
