Chasing Portraits by Elizabeth Rynecki; New American Library, © 2016; ISBN 978110-1987667; 387 pages; $27.
By Donald H. Harrison
SAN DIEGO – Coming this September is an art history book that fans of detective stories also may enjoy. Elizabeth Rynecki’s great-grandfather, Moshe Rynecki, was a well-known artist, although not on the order of a Chagall or a Picasso. His specialty was scenes depicting Polish Jewish life prior in the 20th century inter-war period, such visual imagery very important to telling the story about what was lost.
He had completed about 800 art pieces when the Holocaust interrupted his life’s work. Not wanting his art to be destroyed by the Nazis or their sympathizers, he separated it into bundles and hid them in various locations throughout Poland. Although he did not survive the Holocaust, his wife Perla did and son Jerzy did. Perla set about finding her late husband’s work, but for the most part was frustrated. She found only one bundle with approximately 50 art works.
These works were handed down through the Rynecki family, and they became an object of fascination for Elizabeth, Moshe’s great-granddaughter. She began researching Rynecki through the Internet, libraries and archives, and learned that some of his other works had survived. Some had been sold at auction; others were held by private families. She wanted to learn how many more of her great-grandfather’s paintings were out there, and while she was at it, to learn more about pre-war Polish Jewish life.
Her memoir faithfully recreates the process of discovery—and disappointment – as she sought to at least see and photograph every one of her great-grandfather’s art works.
Her journey or “chase,” as she described it, took her to various venues in North America, Europe, and Israel, where she met with art experts, Holocaust experts, and art collectors. Perhaps because people are wary that art from the Holocaust era may have improper provenance, some people were reluctant to show Elizabeth their holdings, a source of great frustration for her.
Rynecki writes vividly, and readers can share with her the “ah-hah” moments that enliven the lives of dedicated researchers.
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Harrison is editor of San Diego Jewish World. He may be contacted via donald.harrison@sdjewishworld.com. Comments intended for publication in the space below MUST be accompanied by the letter writer’s first and last name and by his/ her city and state of residence (city and country for those outside the United States.)