Wolpert, Ludwig Y. (Ludwig Yehuda), 1900-1981

Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert was a sculptor and designer of Jewish ritual objects and was regarded as the first artist to integrate Hebrew lettering with silver ceremonial objects. He worked in a variety of materials in addition to silver-aluminum and other metals, glass, plastic, wood, and textiles.

Born in 1900 in Hildesheim, Germany, to a traditional Jewish family, Wolpert soon came to know and cherish his Jewish heritage. He developed an interest in art at an early age, and from 1916 until 1920, he studied sculpture in Frankfurt-am-Main's Kunstgewerbeschule, School for Arts and Crafts. After several years of independent work as a sculptor, he returned to the School of Arts and Crafts to study metalwork under a silversmith who had previously taught at the Bauhaus in Weimar, Leo Horowitz. It was then that Wolpert decided to devote himself to Jewish ceremonial art, applying the new trends of that time. In 1930 he created his first work with Hebrew lettering, a Passover plate for the Seder table, made from silver, ebony, and glass.

With the rise of Nazism in 1933, Wolpert went to Palestine. In 1935, he became a professor at the New Bezalel Academy for Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem. His teaching stressed simplicity and functional purity of design, and influenced generations of Israeli artists and craftsmen.

In 1956, Drs. Abraham Kanof and Stephen Kaiser, impressed by Wolpert's work and his influence upon his students, invited him to the Jewish Museum in New York, where he established and was designated director of the Tobe Pascher Workshop, which is devoted to the creation of modern Jewish ceremonial art.

Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert was recognized in his time by the many commissions he received to create Judaica for synagogues, museums, and other public places, as well as from individuals to commemorate important personal events. His artistic creations include, among numerous others: a gold Hanukkah menorah for David Ben Gurion; the silver Torah case presented in 1948 to President Harry S. Truman by the first Israeli president, Chaim Weizmann (now in the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri); the Jewish section of the United States Air Force Academy chapel in Colorado Springs; and the entrance to the Jewish Chapel at John F. Kennedy Airport. His works have been displayed in Germany, Israel, and the United States.

In 1976 the Spertus College of Judaica in Chicago honored Wolpert with a Doctor of Hebrew Letters, in recognition of his contribution to the design and practice of Jewish art. In the same year, the Jewish Museum exhibited "Ludwig Yehuda Wolpert: A Retrospective." Wolpert remained in his position at the Tobe Pascher Workshop at the Jewish Museum until his death on November 6, 1981. He was succeeded in his work at the workshop by his students, Chava Wolpert Richard (his daughter), and Moshe Zabari.