Light in the Darkness: Benn’s Psalms

Psalm 112:4
Unto the upright there ariseth:
light in the darkness.

This weekend I found a mysterious French publication called simply Benn (Editions Medialogue, 1987, ISBN 2867400104). It contains 150 paintings illustrating verses from Psalms, with no details or dates, and only a brief preface (by “The Editor”) containing glowing quotes by Jules Romains and the Louvre’s Maurice Serullaz.

Research of course cleared up part of the mystery: These are the work of Benejou Rabinowicz (1905-89), better known as Benn. Most of the works date to around 1959. The longest blurb in English I can find is by bookseller Eric Kline (who is selling a 1960 portfolio of Benn’s Psalms):

Benn was a Jewish-Polish painter and graphic artist. After studying at the Academy of Arts in Warsaw he made his debut in 1927 with his first solo exhibition. During this time he designed the typography for various collections of Yiddish poetry. After being very active in the 1920’s and 30’s in the Polish theater scene as well as being the founder of the modernist group “3F”, he went to Paris to study with Fernand Leger. After the German occupation of France in 1940 he went into hiding. After being denounced he was arrested by the Gestapo and sent to a concentration camp but miraculously survived the war. He returned to Paris and in the post-war years he developed his own style of metaphysical painting techniques and surrealism. Later in his life Benn also was active in book design and contributed illustrations for various books of the Bible and for The Song of Songs. He passed away in 1989.

Some links in French: 1, 2.

Psalm 69:2,3
Save me, O God, for the waters are come even to threaten my life,
I am sunk in the mire of the deep, where there is no standing,
I am come into the depth of the waters,
and the flood overfloweth me.

Psalm 71:6
By thee have I been supported from my birth.

Psalm 9:18
The wicked shall return into hell.

Psalm 144:4
Man is like the breath,
his days are like a passing shadow.

Psalm 110:7
He shall drink of the brook in the way:
there for shall he lift up the head.

Psalm 120:7
I am for peace,
but when I speak, they are for war.

Psalm 22:17
For dogs have encompassed me,
the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me.

Psalm 24:4
He that is of clean hands, and pure of heart.

Psalm 85:12
Truth will grow up out of the earth,
and righteousness will look down from heaven.

Psalm 17:8
Keep me as the apple of the eye
conceal me under the shadow of thy wings.

Psalm 91:4
With his pinions will he cover thee,
and under his wings shalt thou find shelter.

Psalm 16:8
I have set the Lord always before me.

Psalm 92:13
He shall grow like a cedar in Lebanon.

Psalm 123:1
Unto thee lift I up my eyes,
O thou that dwellest in the heavens.

Psalm 11:6
He letteth rain upon the wicked burning coals, fire and brimstone.

Psalm 79:2
They have given the dead bodies of thy servants
as food unto the fowls of the heaven.

Psalm 133:1
Behold, how good and how pleasant it is
when brethren dwell closely together (in union)!

Psalm 38:7
I am bent double, I am bowed down to the utmost,
all the day long I go about full of grief.

Previously:
Helga Aichinger must have been familiar with Benn.