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BURLINGTON, Aug. 16 (BUS): A mural painted in a Vermont synagogue over 100 years ago by a Lithuanian immigrant — hidden behind a wall for years — has been described as a rare piece of art and has been painstakingly moved and restored.
The 1910 large color triptych by the painter Ben Zion Black shows the Ten Commandments with a lion on either side, the sun shining, and rich columns and curtains on the border. Now known as the “Lost Mural,” a rare representation of the type of art that honored synagogues in Europe that were largely destroyed during the Holocaust, experts say.
“When I learned about the mural and what it was and the artist’s story, I was totally amazed, there is nothing like it anywhere else in this country,” said Josh Perlman, Weitzman’s Senior Curator and Director of Exhibitions and Interpretation. The National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia, according to the Associated Press (AP).
It’s a representation of a style that’s been around in Europe, but Perelman said he’s never heard of anyone bringing that style to the United States.
“It makes it a treasure and an important work at the same time, both in American Jewish religious life and in the art world of this country,” he said.
Black, who was also a musician, playwright, and poet, as well as a sign maker, decorated the interior of what was then the 1910 Adam Chai Synagogue in a Burlington ghetto known as Little Jerusalem. He painted the triptych – the missing mural – in the apse of the building, as well as other murals on the inside of the synagogue.
But the synagogue closed in 1939 when it merged with another, Ohavi Zedek, and the original building went on to other uses, including a carpet store, according to the Lost Mural website.
When the building was converted into apartments in 1986, Aaron Goldberg, an archivist of Ohavi Tzedek, and a fellow synagogue installed a wall in front of the mural, according to the site. Black’s two daughters donated money to take archival photos of the art, but it wasn’t clear at the time if the mural could be salvaged, Goldberg said.
After more than 20 years, Goldberg said, the wall painting was cut down, photographs taken and sent to museums across the country and the world to ask what to do with the artwork.
“The global consensus at the time was that we needed to do everything we could and take all possible measures to remove the original fresco due to its uniqueness, because it really is a symbol of perhaps thousands of frescoes and the kind of painting that has been lost,” Goldberg said.
The plaster was in poor condition and paint was flaking off in many sections. The plaster was installed and a maintenance worker re-applied the paint. A temporary structure was then built so that the building’s roof could be removed, the mural lathes strengthened, and the artwork could be wrapped in a metal frame to move in 2015 by crane and then truck to the current Ohavi Zedek Synagogue.
In his new home, restorers plastered damaged sections of paint and cleaned the entire fresco, revealing its original color and vibrant detail. The paint was also matched and added where it fell. This work was done this year and last year, during the coronavirus pandemic, when the building was largely unused.
About $1 million for the project was raised through donations from local, state, national and international donors. He is still seeking donations to replicate the green lanes on the original painting that did not survive, said Goldberg, president of the Lost Mural Project, a secular, independent nonprofit organization.
The restored mural was revealed this summer, and tours continue.
Chief Rabbi Amy Small saw the beauty of the restoration step by step, when she came to the office or sanctuary, which she said was a reminder of how important the mural was.
It is important not only to the Jewish community and the descendants of these early settlers in Burlington, but also to other immigrants in the United States, which provides safety to Jewish and other families fleeing from many parts of the world, she said.
“It’s a Jewish story and an American story,” Small said, as well as a “universal story.”
Another part of the Lost Mural story, Perelman said, is the “remarkable, creative and dedicated people who nurtured its preservation and representation to the world.” “The Burlington community, the Jewish community in Burlington, Vermont, have been remarkable in their sense of the importance of this artwork and their commitment to bringing it back on display.”
HF