Litvak Jewish art gets first global show after almost a century

Lithuania, whose borders before World War 1 included parts of modern Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, Russia and Latvia, was a major heartland of European Jewry, famed for its talmudical academies and bookish Jews known as Litvaks.

Looking to leave their traditional surroundings and soak up the creative atmosphere, many Litvak artists, including world-renowned painter Marc Chagall, converged on Paris at that time.

The result was a unique series of works, which became known as the Ecole de Paris, embracing multiple styles including post-impressionism, cubism and futurism. The Litvak artists also fused romantic and melancholic visions of their former Jewish small towns, known as Shtetls, into their work.

Visitors in London now have the chance to see some of the paintings from artists including Emmanuel Mane-Katz, Max Band, Pinchus Kremegne and Theo Tobiasse.