'Ben Gurion' - One of the Early and Important Works of Georges Weil. England 1956

'Ben Gurion' - One of the Early and Important Works of Georges Weil. England 1956

A rare and valuable item - one of the first works of the artist Georgers Weil when he was 18. 

Works by Georges Weil in this early period included bronze sculptures of David Ben Gurion and Winston Churchill. 

In his youth, while still living in London, Georges Weil - a sculptor and silversmith who owned a successful workshop for Jewelry design - received a strange letter. The sender was Cornelius Roosevelt, a distant cousin of the late American President. He wrote from Washington, expressing his hope that Weil will make good use of him in his work. 

Weil created only 2 sculptures of David Ben Gurion; this is one of them. 

Biography:

Weil was born in 1938 in Vienna and his family was one of the last to escape via Antwerp to London in 1939.

Although not much is known of his early life, it is known that Weil briefly attended London’s St. Martins School of Art in 1956. He studied sculpturing and jewellery design, describing himself first as a sculptor and only then as a jewellery designer.

Sculptural flair can be seen in his jewellery designs which are modernist, abstract and asymmetrical. In 1960s and 70s jewellery, the single most important element was the overall stylistic impact of the piece and not the intrinsic value of the diverse elements used. Weil used precious stones, both cut and uncut. Silver and gold could be used together with diamonds and less valuable, inorganic or organic material such as pearls or wood.

In 1969, Weil made works for the Jean Renet Gallery, which opened on Bond St. and an exhibition of his works was held in 1971. Weil's works in this early period included bronze portrait-sculptures of David Ben-Gurion and Winston Churchill, Charles de Gaulle and the singer/actor Sammy Davis Jr.

Weil also began to create sculpture made of gold, silver and precious gems, jewelry as objects d’art, which earned him glowing press reviews that compared his work to that of Cellini and Fabergé. Many of Weil’s sculptures in precious metal depict distinctly Jewish themes.

Among his major projects was the creation in 1994 of a five-meter bronze sculpture of a man blowing a Shofar, installed at the entrance to Herzliya Pituach, near the beach where Holocaust survivors landed toward the end of the British Mandate, 1945-1948. A similar sculpture, made the following year, was installed at Gilelleje, Denmark, where Danish Jews were taken in boats to Sweden during the Nazi occupation of the country.

Weil is also considered the only Jewish Netsuke artist in history. He is the only foreigner invited to join the Art Carver Society of Japan.

His wide variety of works indicate that several themes interested Weil at different times. Jewry with its varied content is an especially central motif, as well as Jewish symbols, the circle of the year and the Holocaust.

Provenance: The Weil Family Collection, London- England.