Ever Wanted To Own A Kleinman Original? You Might Have The Chance Now

by CrownHeights.info

An oil painting of dancing Chasidim, an original by famed Lubavitch artist Zalman Kleinman, is on the auction block tomorrow at Kestenbaum and Company Auction.

The Painting was originally owned by a collector in upstate New York who purchased it directly from Kleinman, and is now up for sale to the public.

Born in Leningrad, Russia, to a long-standing family of Lubavitch Chassidim, Zalman Kleinman (1933-95) was a Chabad Chassid and self-taught artist who expressed his spiritual fervor by way of art.

He was encouraged to paint by the Lubavitcher Rebbe, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, who stated: “Art adds another dimension of feeling to one’s spiritual commitment.” In a personal letter to the artist by the Rebbe, Kleinman’s art is described as “impressive and pure.”

After escaping Soviet Russia aged thirteen, Kleinman studied in yeshiva in Paris and eventually moved to Israel where he served in the Israel Defense Forces. Later he relocated to the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn. There, living in the immediate vicinity of the Court of Lubavitch, Kleinman produced a series of penetrating and moving paintings that portray the inner life and beauty of his Chassidic community.

Original works by Zalman Kleinman rarely are found in auction, with fewer ever sold at all. At present, the only authorized reseller of Kleinman art is the Chai Art Gallery located o Kingston Ave.