Temporary Exhibition Guerre et Paix

The Ateliers-musée Chana Orloff presents an exhibition dedicated to how the artist lived through and depicted the conflicts of the 20th century. Titled War and Peace, this exhibition explores an essential yet still little-known theme in Chana Orloff's work: her way of confronting the violence of history through sculpture.

From her earliest pieces created during the First World War to the monuments produced after the founding of the State of Israel, the exhibition traces over half a century of artistic creation shaped by the trials and upheavals of the world.

Our times resonate strangely with Chana Orloff's life: Ukraine, Israel, Europe, the march of armies, massacres... Like us, she experienced uncertainty, anguish, dread—but also hope. Chana lived through troubled periods that left a deep mark on her: the death of her husband, the poet Ary Justman, in 1919; the suicide of her friend Georges Kars in 1945; learning of the Holocaust; the Arab-Israeli wars, a source of worry for her family and friends living in Israel.

Yet serenity and hope also punctuated her life: her son Didi (Elie), her family, her accomplished artistic career, and the creation of the State of Israel—all were beacons of light in her existence. Sculpture was a language for her, a means of expressing and conveying her emotions.

Many of her drawings and sculptures explore the themes of war and peace, as exemplified by her iconic work titled War and Peace.

The exhibition brings together a rarely shown collection of works, including sculptures, preparatory drawings, and engravings. The studio's mezzanine has been specially redesigned to host a journey structured around three major sections: