This is a biblical-themed lithograph by Reuven Rubin, a Romanian-born Israeli artist who painted in the style of Marc Chagall and was Israel’s first ambassador to Romania. He was born to a Hasidic family, one of thirteen children. In 1912 he left for Ottoman- ruled Palestine to study art at the Bezalel Academy of Art and Design in Jerusalem. A year later he studied art in Paris. At the outbreak of World War I, he returned to Romania, where he spent the duration of the war. In 1921, he traveled to New York City with his friend and fellow artist, Arthur Kolnik; they met Alfred Stieglitz, who was instrumental in organizing their first American show at a gallery in the city. Following the exhibition, they returned to Europe, and in 1923, Rubin emigrated to Mandate Palestine. Rubin’s Cezannesque landscapes from the 1920’s were both modern and naive; his paintings reflected a spiritual, translucent light. In Palestine, he became one of the founders of the new Eretz-Yisrael style. Recurring themes in his work were the bible, the Prophets, the biblical landscape, folklore and people, including Yemenites, Hasidic Jews and Arabs, and many of his paintings are sun-bathed depictions of Jerusalem and the Galilee. Rubin was influenced by the work of Henri Rousseau, and he signed his works with his first name in Hebrew and his surname in Roman letters. This is a signed and numbered lithograph depicting an angel comforting a Moses-like figure holding the Ten Commandments. It is numbered 12 of an edition of 150 in the lower left and signed on the plate in the lower right. We believe the lithograph is printed by Mourlot on Arches paper, but we have not removed the paper on the backside of the lithograph to find out. The overall size is 36 3/4 x 30 in. wide and the sight size is 26 5/8 x 20 1/2 in. wide