Combining biographical research and iconographic analysis, my project aims to shed light on the overlooked contributions of Jewish women sculptors in the 20th century, emphasizing the ways in which the challenges of their time shaped their artistic work, as both a material and cultural practice.

Sculpture, as a traditionally male-dominated field, was increasingly conquered by women from the turn of the century onward. While during the social upheavals of the First World War, women at times benefited from the expanded opportunities created by instability, the scope for Jewish women’s expression was severely narrowed beginning in the 1930s. Their roles in navigating the complex realities of the period of two world wars, Nazi persecution and the Shoah differed significantly from those of men and non-Jewish women. Many expressed their experiences through sculpture by turning to biblical themes, either as a source of hope or a means of affirming cultural identity, often reinterpreting them through a modern lens. The subject of motherhood was pivotal, as it resonated with both Jewish and feminist perspectives and could serve as a symbol of resilience, continuity, and survival.

My research pays close attention to the everyday and embodied dimensions of sculpture – a medium that poses unique obstacles in terms of production, storage, and transport, particularly during times of uncertainty. Inconsistent conditions for women’s artistic education and work prompted gendered responses across different geographic and historical contexts. To cope with material limitations, professional bans, internment, and exile, they developed sculptural practices – such as creating pocket-sized works or modeling from bread – that rendered artistic production itself a strategy of resilience. While most of the biographies are marked by rupture and displacement, I aim to reconstruct the networks and pathways that connect them, situating them within an international framework.