Something To Hold On To

In an ever-shifting, unpredictable reality, the exhibition “Something invites renewed reflection on relationships, focusing ״ to Hold On To on signs of connection and intimacy between artists. It provides viewers with a window into the differences between public image and private life among six Israeli artists, revealing new and surprising aspects of their respective artistic languages.

Through letters, photographs, sketchbooks, and personal diaries, the exhibition traces the relationships that shaped the work of six artists: German-born couple Hedwig Grossman and Rudi Lehmann, who met in their youth, emigrated to Eretz Yisrael together in 1933, and sought to establish a local artistic scene; couple Siona Shimshi and Jachin Hirsch, born in Tel Aviv in the 1930s, whose multidisciplinary work developed in parallel with the flourishing of art in Israel; and artists Menashe Kadishman and Igael Tumarkin, who studied with Lehmann in the 1950s, drew on his influence as sculptors early in their careers, and maintained an ongoing dialogue with him. All these relationships embodied exchanges of ideas, mutual fertilization, and intergenerational influence.

The archival materials, presented to the public for the first time, draw attention to the complex interplay between love and creation. They also reveal fascinating gaps in relative dominance or authority inside each relationship. Taken together, the materials bring out the varied emotional currents that nourish artistic creation and amplify it. Viewing them invites a renewed look at familiar bodies of work – for example, through Hirsch’s decades-long documentation of his partner in her sleep, or the way Grossman continued to depict her relationship with Lehmann in soft, naïve lines even in her later years.

Each in their own way, the artists presented in the exhibition strove to found, consolidate, and propagate a local artistic practice, and together they left a profound mark on artistic language in Israel. Opening an archival drawer is an intimate act – like pulling aside a curtain onto a personal, hidden space within their influential work. Seeing an artist documented with such consistency, or learning about the romantic fantasies of someone commonly regarded as restrained and didactic, helps us see these artists as part of a network of human relationships. Attending to the distinctive bonds between them allows us to follow the threads connecting different fragments of their lives. The exhibited materials prompt reflections on how people hold on to things – both physically and emotionally.