The Tanakh and the psalms. The Old Testament (in Hebrew TaNaK) was created in the 12th to the second centuries BC. The Tanakh consists of 38 books divided into three parts: the Torah, i.e., the Pentateuch of Moses, or the Books of the Law (T), Neviim, the Books of the Prophets, which contain various narratives (N), and Ketuvim, the Books of Writings, a source of popular wisdom, proverbs and psalms (K). There are 150 psalms praising various attributes of God. In the last years of his life, the artist Ben Shahn, who is famous for his political works, began to seek inspiration in the Old Testament. Shortly before his death in 1969, inspired by the Psalms, he made 24 lithographs. The series of lithographs Hallelujah (in Hebrew Hallelu-Jah, in Greek and Latin Alleluia, ‘Praise the Lord’) was published in an edition of 240 numbered copies in 1970– 1971 after the artist’s death in 1969. The Ellex Valiunas collection has number nine.
In the lithographs, Shahn depicted various types of instruments mentioned in the Old Testament that were used to praise God in the Temple, as stated in the 150th, the last, of the Psalms: ‘Praise ye the Lord. / Praise God in his sanctuary: / Praise him in the firmament of his power. / Praise him for his mighty acts: / Praise him according to his excellent greatness. / Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: / Praise him with the psaltery and harp. / Praise him with the timbrel and dance: / Praise him with stringed instruments and organs. / Praise him upon the loud cymbals: / Praise him upon the high-sounding cymbals. / Let every thing that hath breath / Praise the Lord!’ (Psalm 150, 1–6).
Text author Vilma Gradinskaitė
© ADAGP/LATGA, Vilnius
Source: Law firm Valiunas Ellex art album
STORIES OF LITVAK ART (2023). Compiler and author Vilma Gradinskaitė
© LATGA, Vilnius 2025
