Ilya Shor is a Jewish artist who miraculously escaped death during the Second World War and became a world-famous master of Judaism

Ilya Shor (April 16, 1904 – June 7, 1961) – a famous American artist of the twentieth century, an outstanding master of painting, graphics and Jewish ritual art. He was famous for making jewelry and cult items for synagogues, illustrations for the works of Jewish writers and philosophers, as well as writing colorful paintings of the everyday genre and creating abstract sculptures. The best masterpieces of the artist’s work today are kept in museums in Israel and the United States.

Ilya Shor miraculously escaped death during the Second World War. Together with his wife, he managed to sail to America on a steamer, while all their close relatives who remained in Europe were ruthlessly destroyed by the Nazis in concentration camps, along with millions of innocent Jews.

Biography

Ilya (real name – Israel) Shor was born on April 16, 1904 in a family of Hasidic Jews in the city of Zolochev, which at that time was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and today belongs to Ukraine. The boy’s father was a self-taught artist. He made a living making colorful signs for places of entertainment and shops. Little Izya took an early interest in drawing and at the age of 16 his parents sent him to study with a local engraver.

Having mastered the basics of jewelry art and metalworking, Shor helped his father in the family business for several years. He left for Warsaw and entered the Academy of Fine Arts with the firm intention of becoming a professional painter. For eight years, Ilya conscientiously attended classes at a prestigious university and achieved significant academic success. Then he met and fell in love with his classmate Resya Einstein, who later became his only wife.

In 1937, Ilya Shor received a grant from the Polish government to continue his studies abroad.

After he immediately went to Paris. Resya soon joined him. The young people got married in the summer of 1939 and decided to stay in France forever. Shor’s paintings did not enjoy much success with the public. However, the money earned from their sale was enough to pay for housing and food.

But after the defeat of the French troops in the battles with the Germans in the spring of 1940, the couple had to urgently flee from Paris. Together with thousands of other Jews, they went to Marseille, from where they planned to emigrate to the United States. Only at the end of the autumn of 1941, thanks to the help of his brother Ilya, who had lived in Los Angeles for more than 30 years, they managed to get an American visa and board a steamer sailing overseas.

Shore and his wife arrived in New York on December 3, 1941

He settled in a tiny room in Manhattan. First, they had to work for several years in a decorative tile factory. But in 1944, Ilya’s paintings were first selected for display at an exhibition at the Boston Museum. The works received good responses in the press and were noticed by wealthy American Jews.

From that moment on, the couple’s life changed for the better. The artist began to receive orders from religious communities and synagogues for the manufacture of objects of ritual art. In addition, he took up the creation of prints on everyday subjects and book illustrations for the works of Jewish writers. By the end of the 1940s, Shor had become a recognized master of Judaism. The well-being of his family has increased dramatically, and the number of customers has increased several times.

In New York, Ilya Shor had two daughters, whom he loved very much. The artist enthusiastically worked in the field of painting, graphics and jewelry art, rarely leaving his workshop. Despite numerous invitations, he never went abroad again. The happy life of the master suddenly ended at the peak of his professional career. On June 7, 1961, Ilya Shor died suddenly in his apartment from a heart attack at the age of 57.