Yechiel (Eli) Shainblum
Encyclopedia
Yechiel Shainblum was a Montreal
painter, sculptor and teacher. Though he was a respected and prolific artist who produced literally hundreds of pieces beginning in the 1920s and on through the early 1980s, Shainblum was much better known in Montreal as an elementary school teacher. His family reports that Shainblum derived great joy from teaching, and he put much more emphasis on pedagogy and his students than he did on promoting his artistic career.
Shainblum taught art, Yiddish
and Hebrew
(among other subjects) to five generations of Jewish children in several different Jewish day school
s in Montreal, including the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
and the Jewish People's Schools and Peretz Schools. He was often recognized on the street by former students, many of whom had grown up to become prominent figures in business, the arts, medicine and science.
It is likely that Shainblum would be better known nationally and internationally if his work had been more widely seen during his lifetime. He had few (if any) major exhibitions, and he mostly distributed his paintings and sculptures among family and friends rather than selling them to museums and art galleries. He did combine his two major interests by illustrating several children's books over the years, many—though not all—in Yiddish and Hebrew. He died in 1987.
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
painter, sculptor and teacher. Though he was a respected and prolific artist who produced literally hundreds of pieces beginning in the 1920s and on through the early 1980s, Shainblum was much better known in Montreal as an elementary school teacher. His family reports that Shainblum derived great joy from teaching, and he put much more emphasis on pedagogy and his students than he did on promoting his artistic career.
Shainblum taught art, Yiddish
Yiddish language
Yiddish is a High German language of Ashkenazi Jewish origin, spoken throughout the world. It developed as a fusion of German dialects with Hebrew, Aramaic, Slavic languages and traces of Romance languages...
and Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
(among other subjects) to five generations of Jewish children in several different Jewish day school
Jewish day school
A Jewish day school is a modern Jewish educational institution that is designed to provide Jewish children with both a Jewish and a secular education in one school on a full time basis, hence its name of "day school" meaning a school that the students attend for an entire day and not on a part time...
s in Montreal, including the United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
United Talmud Torahs of Montreal
United Talmud Torahs of Montreal is a private coed Jewish day school system that includes an elementary and a high school on two campuses; One located in the Saint Laurent borough, the other in the Snowdon neighbourhood of the Côte-des-Neiges–Notre-Dame-de-Grâce borough in Montreal, Quebec...
and the Jewish People's Schools and Peretz Schools. He was often recognized on the street by former students, many of whom had grown up to become prominent figures in business, the arts, medicine and science.
It is likely that Shainblum would be better known nationally and internationally if his work had been more widely seen during his lifetime. He had few (if any) major exhibitions, and he mostly distributed his paintings and sculptures among family and friends rather than selling them to museums and art galleries. He did combine his two major interests by illustrating several children's books over the years, many—though not all—in Yiddish and Hebrew. He died in 1987.