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Morris Kestelman RA
My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from helping me, from the words of my groaning?
Psalm 44
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Lama Sabachthani [Why have you forsaken me?], 1943
oil, Imperial War Museum
Born in October 1905, Morris Kestelman grew up in a Jewish immigrant family in the East End of London and won a scholarship to the Central School of Art in 1922. Through his work, he became a member of the avant-garde London Group, eventually going on to study at the Royal College of Art.
In addition to his abstract paintings, Kestelman worked in theatre and costume design, producing sets for Carmen at Sadler's Wells in 1940 and designing a number of productions at the Old Vic, including Richard III starring Laurence Olivier.
His 1943 painting Lama Sabachthani is a rare British artistic response to news of the atrocities known to be taking place against the Jews in occupied Poland.
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![Morris Kestelman, Lama Sabachthani [Why have you forsaken me?]. A group of Jewish men, women and children weep and mourn over a mound of corpses. Further large heaps of corpses and burning buildings are visible in the background. The mourning men wear prayer shawls and pillbox hats and carry Torah scrolls. The women wear headscarves or shawls over their hair.](images/48_IWM_ART_016786_lge.jpg)