Ray Faust, Bronx Artist: Part 1, Gallery

—Claire Breger-Belsky

Published on July 30, 2024.

Since 2023, the Yiddish Book Center has presented the work of Polish-born, Bronx-based Yiddish artist and folklorist Ray Faust (1900–1993) in our Brechner gallery. This first solo exhibit in decades is possible thanks to the generous donation of much of Faust’s work by her grandson Barry Faust and the help of scholar Barbara Kirshenblatt-Gimblett. Little has been written so far about Faust’s life and work, so it felt important to supplement our showing of her work with two features for this blog: this gallery piece and a longer biographical article.

Ray Faust’s body of work is lovely, extensive, and impossible to fully capture on a single webpage, but in this first piece we showcase a wide range of her paintings and sketches, organized into several categories that, while not containing the entire breadth of her oeuvre, represent certain major repeated subjects and themes.

The Old Country:

A significant portion of Faust’s work is devoted to representing the world of her childhood and the life and landscapes of Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland. In painting her home shtetl, Faust evokes for us its roads, its waters and bridges, its markets and rooftops, its inhabitants, and the Jewish traditions integral to many of their lives.

Market square full of wagons of produce, people in colorful clothes, and horses surrounded by distant trees and white buildings with brown roofs.

Undated. Market square in Faust’s shtetl, a scene that she has described as a significant memory.

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In the foreground, a small white house with a brown roof, and a woman with a basket and a red headscarf walking in front of a garden with a yellow fence. In the background, more white houses with red or brown roofs, and faint trees.

1939. Shtetl houses and gardens.

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Blue pen sketch of a street in Faust's shtetl.

1960. Sketch of a street with a few pedestrians in Tomaszów Lubelski, Poland.

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Market square full of wagons of produce, people in colorful clothes, and horses surrounded by distant trees and white buildings with brown roofs. Less sharp than the other market painting.

1982. The same market scene, though in a different style, with fewer sharp details.

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Still life of a chanukiah lit for the first night of Chanukah and placed in a window, through which you can see snowy trees and shtetl houses.

1964. A Chanukah still life shows the snow-covered town.

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White, black, and red drawing of an old shul with dark windows and a shingled roof.

Undated. Drawing of the Krasnobroder shul, built 1661 and burned 1915.

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At a fork in the snow-covered road. Two red sleds, one coming and one going, pulled by horses and filled with colorfully dressed passengers. On either side of the road, a snow-covered forest.

1948. Snowy roads and woods outside the shtetl.

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Colorful sketch showing line-drawing trees and houses lining a shtetl road. The windows and doors of the houses are done in red and orange, lighting them up, and the scene takes place in winter.

1989. Shtetl road in winter.

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Pen sketch of a shtetl street with houses, pedestrians on the sidewalk, cobblestones, and power lines.

Undated. Shtetl street with pedestrians.

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Inside a crowded and ornately decorated synagogue. Many chandeliers hang from the ceiling, and the wall are painted with animals and the months of the Jewish year. The men carry Torah scrolls; the women and children carry flags.

1959. Inside of a synagogue on Simkhes toyre.

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Crowd with instruments, a Torah scroll, and a huppah outside on the street.

1961. Simkhes toyre, now outside on the street.

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A procession on the shtetl streets of people with instruments and candles, and a Torah scroll under a chuppah. At night, under stars and the moon.

1950. Simkhes toyre outside under the stars.

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Snowy road with blue houses on either side and bare trees. A man walking in the distance, and a woman in a red dress and black coat carries a black umbrella. It is snowing lightly.

1945. Snowy day in the shtetl.

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New York:

From the 1920s onward, New York was Faust’s home and the subject of much of her work. Her paintings of the city include distinctive skylines, the bright intrusion of nature, and the life and recreation of the city’s inhabitants. Many also feature the streets and gardens of her beloved Bronx, where she lived until moving to Chelsea, on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, sometime in the mid-1960s.

A city street lined with brilliantly blue flowering trees. Behind the trees, brownish city buildings, and the Empire State Building visible through a gap.

1962–63. City in spring.

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A woman and two children stand on stairs leading up into the Bronx Botanical Gardens, which have flowerbeds in the centers and many small, glass greenhouses around the edges.

1950–56. The Bronx Botanical Gardens.

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Drawing of a carnival. Colorful umbrellas on many booths on either side of a path, with people lining the edges of the path and looking into the booths. In the background on the right, a ferris wheel, a roller coaster, and other rides. On the left, the ocean and a sailboat.

1958. Coney Island.

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Sepia photo of a color painting of a pond in New York. Front and center, a rowboat with three women. Various other boats with rowers in the background. Along the edges of the pond, a lamppost and trees, behind which rise tall buildings.

1946. Boating in New York.

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A street corner. The background is a four-story red brick building with black windows. On the corner, a large wooden barrel has been turned into a sprinkler, spraying water on four children in colorful clothes and no shoes. Another child, out of the spray, is riding a bicycle.

Undated. Sprinkler in the summer.

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People in the Bronx Botanical Gardens. Paved paths are surrounded by flowerbeds with pink, yellow, red, and green flowers, and the background turns to green trees. Scattered throughout are many glass greenhouses.

Undated. The Bronx Botanical Gardens.

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Still life of a white and blue vase with pink, yellow, purple, and green flowers sitting on a windowsill. On the right side of the picture, a blue curtain is drawn back with a pink band. Out the window, tall, rising New York City buildings.

Undated. Still life with a view of the city.

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Sailboats on a river in front of a distant, greenish city skyline. In the foreground a red wall with a person in a white shirt and grey pants looking out over the river. In the bottom left corner, a Dalmatian. A strip of grass along the bottom with some small bushes.

1957. City skyline across a river.

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White birds float in a pond. The water reflects the the pink flowering trees lining the far shore and the white, multi-story buildings behind them. One building flies an American flag.

Undated. Pond in spring.

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A grey, snowy day. Two people in black walk on a city street. The woman on the left has a black umbrella and a red headscarf. On either side of the street, tall buildings in browns, oranges, and greys, with warmly lit yellow windows. In the center background, a much taller building.

1946. City streets in the snow.

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Portraits:

The slideshow below consists of a selection of Faust’s many portraits: paintings and drawings of both family members and unidentified individuals.

Sketch with no background of three people from the torso up. A man and woman, Mendel Shiye and Ray Faust, in front. Mendel Shiye, on the left, wears a dark jacket buttoned over a shirt and tie and has round wire glasses. Ray, on the right, wears a polka-dot collared shirt and round wire glasses. Behind and between them, their son, Harold, wears a light-colored buttoned shirt and looks down at the viewer.

1945. Portrait of Ray, Mendel Shiye, and their son, Harold.

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Portrait of a woman in a white shirt with a blue collar or scarf. She has greenish eyes and curly, blond hair with some grey. The background is grey.

1950. Self-portrait.

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Portrait of a man with a white tallis with black stripes and a gold border over his head. He wears tefillin and has a long, white beard. There is a blue-and-gold brick wall behind him, and the skin of his face, the tefillin, and the tallis are all patterned like bricks.

Undated. Subject unknown.

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Pencil sketch of a man and a woman sitting in two chairs. The woman, on the left, wears a dark skirt and light shirt. She has a long, beaded necklace, matching earrings, and dark hair pulled back. Her left elbow is on a small table between the chairs. The man, on the right, is in a long, dark coat, has a long beard, and wears a black top hat. His right elbow is on the table.

1944. Faust's in-laws.

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Two portraits, side by side. On the left, a boy with long brown hair not quite reaching his shoulders, wearing a white collared shirt with green edges, in front of a green background. On the right, a boy with short brown hair, in a white collared shirt with blue edges, in front of a blue background.

Undated. Faust's grandchildren. Left: Jerry Faust. Right: Barry Faust.

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Pencil sketch of a man from the torso up in a dark, buttoned coat with his arms crossed. He has a long white beard and wears a dark, flat hat.

1944. Faust's father.

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Pencil drawing of a man from the shoulders up. A dark, wide collar and a long, white beard. Dark eyes and a dark, flat, round hat.

1940. Faust's grandfather, Chaim Nachman Faust.

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A man sitting in an angled brown wooden chair set on a green wood floor. He wears dark blue pants and a red, orange, and black plaid collared shirt or sweater. His brownish hair sticks up a bit, and he holds a brown cane.

1946. Mendel Shiye (Morris) Faust, Ray's husband.

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Portrait of a young boy with peyes and a black kippah. He wears a blue blazer and a white collared shirt and reads a book with Hebrew writing. One arm is on the book, and his head rests on his right hand.

Undated. Subject unknown.

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In der heym:

Another frequent subject of Faust’s was the inside of homes: domestic scenes, often from the old country, showing both daily life and holidays—especially shabes.

In a blue room, a woman standing left of center is putting her baking into the oven. There is a table set with food, and pots and pans hand on the wall.

1950. Woman baking in a blue house.

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A woman wearing blue and white, facing right in profile, covers her eyes with her hands to bless the shabes candles, which are lit and stand in gold candlesticks on the table in front of her. Also on the table, a kiddush cup and a white cloth likely covering a challah. A window in the background.

1985. Blessing the shabes candles.

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Blue room with an oven, two chairs, a trunk, and a dresser. A bedroom is visible through a door on the right. Lights, mirrors, and cloths, including one with a Star of David, hang on the walls.

1963. Interior.

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Inside a house with red furniture and blue walls. Portraits in wooden frames on the walls. On the table, shabes candles. A woman in the middle, facing out, covers her eyes and blesses them. A child to the right of the table watches, and there is a baby in the crib in another room to the right.

1983. Another house on shabes.

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In the center of a blue room, a woman in a green dress, white apron, and white, translucent head covering stands facing the viewer. Behind her on the wall, on either side of her head, hang two portraits, and green vines climb the wall. To her left and right behind her, windows. On her right, a table with gold candlesticks but no candles. She holds a red book with a yellow title under her right arm.

Undated. Woman in green.

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A woman in a bright, airy room with a large window. The curtains are white with red polka-dots. She is standing in the center in a green dress with a wide white collar and white cuffs on her upper arms. She irons a yellow cloth on a white ironing board. A clock and paintings, also with yellow outlines, on the walls. Chairs and tables, one with a vase of flowers, stand around her.

1950. Woman ironing.

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Still Lifes:

Faust’s work also includes a large number of still lifes, most commonly a vase with a bouquet of flowers—the type of flower and the design of the vase varying widely—in front of backgrounds that range from solid color to the view out a window.

A clear vase holding purple crocuses with green stems and leaves stands on a bold red surface in front of a light blue background.

Undated crocuses.

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A white vase full of yellow flowers, white daisies with yellow centers, and greenish-yellow leaves. A blurred green background.

1963. Daisies.

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A boquet of roses in a vase. The vase has a country road and white houses with red roofs painted on it, evoking some of Faust's shtetl paintings. Also on the table are pens, a bottle of ink, and two books. The wall behind the flowers is covered in green leaves and branches.

1962.

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A terracotta pot on a bright yellow surface in front of a paler yellow background. A plant with leaves rimmed with green and with red veins.

1954.

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A vase holding small clusters of pale pink flowers sits on a tablecloth of white lines and pink flowers. The vase is blue and round, and in the center is a painting of a woman in period dress with a lace neckline and a feathered hat.

Undated.

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A white vase with a purple flower and green leaves painted on it. The vase holds purple and yellow flowers with green leaves, along with tiny white flowers. The background is blurred and light green.

1963.

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An ornate brown-and-yellow vase holding blue, purple, pink, and yellow flowers. It stands on a green table with a bundle of scallions.

1976. A vibrant bouquet.

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Yiddish:

A folklorist deeply devoted to Yiddish, Faust often included Yiddish words and phrases in her work and painted Yiddish literary figures like Mendele Moykher-Sforim, Y. L. Peretz, and Sholem Aleichem. She also has a series of paintings of the goldene pave, or golden peacock, a recurring image in Yiddish folklore and literature that at times symbolizes Yiddish culture.

Portrait of the writer Mendele Moykher-Sforim from the shoulders up. He has a white cleft beard and short white hair. He's wearing round wire glasses and a brown jacket. Behind him are bookcases full of wide books in blues, browns, blacks, yellows, and reds.

Undated. Mendele Moykher-Sforim.

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Sketch of the writer Y. L. Peretz with a large, bushy moustache. He wears a buttoned jacket over a collared shirt and tie. He looks at the viewer but stands behind a table on which lies an open book with Yiddish writing. His left hand rests on the book.

1965. Y. L. Peretz with a book open to the handwritten beginning of the poem "Brider," titled here "Ale mentshn zaynen brider."

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Portrait of the writer Sholem Aleichem from the shoulders up. He wears a blue coat and vest with a white collared shirt, a blue tie, and oval, wire glasses. He has a moustache and small beard and brown hair that covers part of his forehead.

1952. Sholem Aleichem.

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A purple, green, and pick peacock stands facing left on a blue flowerpot full of tall red flowers with large, round, green leaves. Its tail comes towards the bottom right of the painting.

Undated peacock.

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A green-and-brown peacock sits on a branch of a brown tree under a green canopy of leaves. It faces left and its tail drapes down. The ground is covered in green grass.

1944.

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A white building in the woods. The building has a red roof and yellow windows, doors, and steps leading up to the doors. The words "sholem aleichem" are written out in Yiddish handwriting and in English. There are multicolored flowering bushes in front of the house and lining the narrow paths leading to the two doors. Right, a yellow arch and stairs leading to a forest path. The background is all trees, green and brown.

1974. A building reading "sholem aleichem" in both the Yiddish and English alphabets.

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A building with a triangular roof. The words "s'makht ir" are written in English and Yiddish on the flat side of the building facing the viewer. The building is surrounded with red and yellow flowers. Behind it, green leaves and a pink sky.

1974. A building reading "smakht ir?" ("how are you?") in the Yiddish and English alphabets.

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As with any artist—and especially one as prolific as Faust—it is impossible to represent all her work or fit it neatly into categories. This final slideshow consists of paintings outside of the categories above that nonetheless feel significant, unusual, or simply delightful, ranging from depictions of the Book of Ruth to a painting of a fish tank.

Drawing of a faceless conductor in a black suit, arms raised and a baton in his right hand. He is framed by a red curtain. In front of him, along the bottom of the image, three rows of the backs of people's heads.

1956. A conductor.

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A colorful beach scene, from a distance. People in red and yellow sit or stand on the beach. There are blankets laid out with umbrellas. In the turqouise ocean, many small figures swim, and there is a sailboat and a rowboat. On the beach are four very tall palm trees.

1950. Beach scene.

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A fish tank fills the canvas. The water is a light teal or seafoam. There are small houses and pebbles on the bottom and various types and colors of fish swimming among leafy plants.

1954. Fish tank.

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A black-and-white picture of a painting of a large stone wall. On every other row of stones on the wall is Hebrew text from the Book of Ruth. In the center, small, two woman holding each other, their heads covered.

1964. A wall inscribed with text from the Book of Ruth.

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Pen sketch of a woman and a child, or two women, holding wheat. Yiddish text in the bottom right talks about the Book of Ruth.

Undated. The name "Rus" or "Ruth" in the bottom left. The bottom right talks about when the Book of Ruth is read.

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A table stands in the middle of a room with windows to a garden on either side. On the blue-and-white table is a triptych mirror with a cup between the three panes. The mirror reflects, infinitely, the cup, the windows, the table, and itself.

Undated.

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A black-and-white photo of a color painting. A room with bare walls and a single window in the back. Five women sit or stand at sewing or ironing stations, making clothes.

Undated. Women working.

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A white waterfall takes up the whole center of the canvas, top to bottom. Grey, rocky banks on both sides, and trees with yellowish leaves or flowers. In the distant background, green pine trees or other evergreens.

1956. Waterfall.

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—by Claire (Simkhe) Breger-Belsky, 2023–24 Yiddish Book Center bibliography and translation fellow

Read a longer biographical article about Ray Faust.

The Bronx Bohemians blog is made possible with the support of the Lynn and Greendale families in memory of their aunt and mother, Zeva Greendale, and her special passion for yidishkayt.

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