Henry Miller
- Author
Collaborated with · 1945–1947
Schatz designed and produced the silkscreen artist’s book Into the Night Life around a handwritten passage Miller supplied from Black Spring; both men signed the numbered 1947 edition.
- Painter
- Printmaker
- Sculptor
- Designer
- Illustrator
Bezalel Schatz
The Jerusalem-born modernist who turned Henry Miller’s handwritten dream prose into the all-silkscreen artist’s book Into the Night Life.
Details
- 1912–1978
- 14 March 1912
- Jerusalem, Ottoman Empire
- 1978
- Jerusalem, Israel
- Israeli
- Painter, printmaker, sculptor and designer
- PainterPrintmakerSculptorDesignerIllustrator
- Lilik Schatz · Bezalel Shatz
About Bezalel Schatz
Bezalel ‘Lilik’ Schatz was an Israeli painter, printmaker, sculptor, and designer whose work crossed the boundary between fine and applied art. Born in Jerusalem in 1912, he was the son of Boris Schatz, founder of the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts, and grew up inside the institution whose name he carried.
A modernist in California
His own direction moved away from his father’s academic art. After study in Jerusalem, Schatz spent years in Paris and absorbed European modernism, then lived in California during the 1940s. There he became part of Henry Miller’s artistic circle and undertook the collaboration that remains his best-known book work: Into the Night Life, published in Berkeley in 1947.
Into the Night Life
The book uses a dream passage from Black Spring written out in Miller’s hand, but the object around that text is Schatz’s creation — color silkscreens, abstract imagery, pacing, and binding design across roughly eighty pages. The Morgan Library describes everything except the supplied text as his work. Miller and Schatz signed the numbered edition together.
Return to Jerusalem
Schatz returned to Jerusalem in the early 1950s. His later practice included painting, copper work, murals, decorative arts, and architectural commissions. A 2006 Jerusalem Artists’ House retrospective assembled about two hundred works and emphasized his role in developing a modern Israeli decorative language. He died in Jerusalem in 1978.
Life events
Born in Jerusalem to Boris and Olga Schatz.
Studies and works in Paris, moving toward European modernism.
Lives in California and joins Henry Miller’s artistic circle.
Creates and signs the silkscreen artist’s book Into the Night Life with Miller.
Returns to Jerusalem and works across painting, murals, metalwork, and decorative design.
Jerusalem Artists’ House presents a large retrospective of his work.
People they knew
Questions about Bezalel Schatz
Who was Bezalel Schatz?
He was a Jerusalem-born Israeli painter, printmaker, sculptor, and designer, active in Paris, California, and Israel between the 1930s and 1970s.
What did Bezalel Schatz contribute to Into the Night Life?
He created the visual and physical book around Henry Miller’s handwritten Black Spring passage: the silkscreen images, color, page sequence, and binding design.
Was Bezalel Schatz related to the Bezalel art school?
Yes. His father, Boris Schatz, founded the Bezalel School of Arts and Crafts in Jerusalem, and Bezalel was born and trained within that artistic household.
Sourced claims
Collaborated with · 1945–1947
Henry Miller
Schatz designed and produced the silkscreen artist’s book Into the Night Life around a handwritten passage Miller supplied from Black Spring; both men signed the numbered 1947 edition.
References
References
The sources below include biographies, scholarly essays, interviews, and primary materials that informed this page. They reflect both the historical record and ongoing critical conversations about Bezalel Schatz and their work.
1Bezalel Schatz
Official recordThe Museum of Modern ArtUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
2Bezalel Schatz — Retrospective 2006
Exhibition catalogueJerusalem Artists’ HouseUsed forCatalogue scholarship used to verify attribution, provenance, chronology, and interpretive context for Bezalel Schatz.
3Into the Night Life — printed-book record
Official recordThe Morgan Library & MuseumUsed forOfficial record used to verify names, dates, institutional details, or other factual information on this page.
4Beatrice reports on Michael P. on Henry’s ‘Into the Night Life’
WebsiteHenry Miller Memorial Library, 2024Used forWeb source consulted for documented facts and historical context presented on the Bezalel Schatz page.
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Why these sources are here
These references anchor the page in the documented record and in the scholarly conversations around Bezalel Schatz. Every claim on this page traces back to one or more of the works listed here.
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