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Lot Essay
Pierre Levai has confirmed the authenticity of this sculpture.
Lipchitz executed several sculptures entitled Miracle (Wilkinson, nos. 412 and 413) which were his response to the plight of the 4500 Jewish displaced men, women and children and Holocaust survivors aboard the ship Exodus 1947. The ship left France on 11 July 1947 bound for Palestine but was seized by the British Royal Navy who transferred the passengers onto three navy transports and returned them back to Europe because they did not have legal immigration certificates for Palestine. Lipchitz has commented, "It was a terrible event, one that made me sick with anger and despair. There were many prayers and fasts among Jews for the safety of this ship, and I also fasted. It was during my fast that the idea for this sculpture appeared. I was certain that Israel would ultimately become a state, and the sculpture was in effect the birth of this new state of Israel, a candlestick with the Jew praying" (J. Lipchitz, op. cit., p. 179).
Completed after Miracle I and Exodus (Wilkinson, no. 414), Miracle II was a prayer of thanksgiving and celebration for the birth of the new Jewish state. The sculptor unites the concept of the praying figure with the symbols of the Menorah and the Tables of the Law.
Lipchitz executed several sculptures entitled Miracle (Wilkinson, nos. 412 and 413) which were his response to the plight of the 4500 Jewish displaced men, women and children and Holocaust survivors aboard the ship Exodus 1947. The ship left France on 11 July 1947 bound for Palestine but was seized by the British Royal Navy who transferred the passengers onto three navy transports and returned them back to Europe because they did not have legal immigration certificates for Palestine. Lipchitz has commented, "It was a terrible event, one that made me sick with anger and despair. There were many prayers and fasts among Jews for the safety of this ship, and I also fasted. It was during my fast that the idea for this sculpture appeared. I was certain that Israel would ultimately become a state, and the sculpture was in effect the birth of this new state of Israel, a candlestick with the Jew praying" (J. Lipchitz, op. cit., p. 179).
Completed after Miracle I and Exodus (Wilkinson, no. 414), Miracle II was a prayer of thanksgiving and celebration for the birth of the new Jewish state. The sculptor unites the concept of the praying figure with the symbols of the Menorah and the Tables of the Law.