Henryk Berlewi, who lived from 1894–1967, was born in Warsaw, Poland and engaged in the creation of art for his entire life. He was a proponent of the Russian avant-garde movement in the early 20th century, alongside other Jewish and non-Jewish artists in Europe. His life, largely obscure because of the destruction of Jewish and Yiddish cultural artifacts during WWII, is also rooted in the Yiddish avant-garde movement, which began in such Jewish cultural hubs in Europe as Warsaw and Vilnius.
His work has been published in various Yiddish literary works, including books and publications. He is most well known for his Yiddish book design, which he started during the 1920s for Yiddish writers and publishers.
Berlewi moved to France with other Polish and Jewish artists. He died in Paris—long after he joined La Résistance during the 1940s to fight Nazi occupation.
His illustrations, graphics, and typography work are largely geometric, similar in form and composition to our sound analysis project. His work is generally pleasing to the eye because it is usually clean and fluid. As a Yiddish learner and a lover of design, his cultural value to the language and its people is wide-ranging. Of course, I enjoy his use of simplicity and color.
