“The Girl” is ink-on-paper work by Ruth Schloss (1922–2013). It offers a glimpse into the Israeli Social Realism. As a pivotal figure in the development of 20th-century Israeli art, Schloss dedicated her career to documenting the marginalized, the displaced, and the vulnerable. This particular sketch, featured at Kings Gallery Jerusalem, exemplifies her mastery of the line.
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Technique
In this composition, Schloss captures the likeness of a young girl seated in a moment of quiet contemplation. The artist employs a sophisticated combination of bold, gestural ink lines and diluted ink washes. The heavy, dark strokes define the contours of the girl’s clothing, a simple smock layered over trousers and her sturdy, lace-up boots.
The use of ink wash creates a sense of three-dimensional volume and psychological depth. Schloss applies grey tonal values to the girl’s face and torso, casting a soft shadow that emphasizes her pensive, somewhat somber expression. Her large, dark eyes look slightly downward, avoiding direct contact with the viewer, which imbues the work with a sense of privacy and dignity despite the child’s hardship.
Social Context
Ruth Schloss arrived in Israel from Germany in 1937 and studied at the Bezalel Academy of Arts and Design. While many of her contemporaries moved toward abstraction (most notably the “Ofakim Hadashim” (New Horizons) movement), Schloss remained steadfast in her devotion to Social Realism. She viewed art as a vehicle for social change and empathy.
This sketch reflects the influence of her socialist ideologies and her desire to give a face to the “other” in Israeli society. Schloss favored emotional honesty over decorative beauty. The “unfinished” quality of the peripheral lines in this drawing focuses the viewer’s attention entirely on the child’s internal state.
Significance for Collectors
For collectors of Israeli art, a work by Ruth Schloss represents more than an aesthetic acquisition, it is a piece of historical testimony. Her signature, visible in Hebrew in the lower right, marks the work as an authentic product of a woman who was often the “conscience” of the local art scene.
Schloss’s works are held in major public collections, including the Israel Museum of Jerusalem and the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. This ink drawing gives a timeless reflection on childhood.
By acquiring a piece such as this, the collector engages with the legacy of an artist who showed complexities of her time. Kings Gallery Jerusalem invites you to explore the raw power and tender humanity preserved in this masterful ink sketch by Ruth Schloss.
Our Gallery
Kings Gallery is a leading fine art gallery established in Jerusalem in 1995. We strive to collect and sell the highest quality historic and contemporary Israeli and International art. The gallery specializes in artists from the early period of the 1920’s. In addition, Kings Gallery features leading up-and-coming young artists who will definitely be prominent names in the next few years.