The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13–23). After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, an angel appeared to Joseph in a dream telling him to flee to Egypt with Mary and the infant since King Herod’s jealousy made him want to kill the child.
This event has been interpreted countless times in art throughout the centuries. Here, the Russian-born artist Eugène Berman depicts the young family crossing over an arched stone bridge in the shadow of night. Beneath their silent passage, a few shepherds and their wooly sheep congregate among sparse grass and scattered stones. Mary and the baby are mounted on the donkey and share a close physical bond. Though Mary is shrouded, the infant Jesus appears upright and alert as if assured of a safe outcome. In contrast, Joseph follows the pair on foot clearly burdened by the long journey and their uncertain future.
The scene was one all too familiar to Berman, who fled with his own parents to Paris during the outbreak of war in 1918. A leader among the Surrealist and Neo-Romantic artists, Berman focused on the expression of emotion, loneliness and human isolation that emerged between the World Wars. Trained in Paris, Berman was drawn to the U.S. by the legendary art dealer Julien Levy and exhibited alongside Salvador Dali, Man Ray, and Marcel Duchamp. In 1935, Berman came to the United States, painting covers for a variety of fashionable publications and sets for the Metropolitan Opera. By the time he’d become a citizen in 1944, he had settled in Hollywood, CA. Guggenheim fellowships allowed him to tour the Southwest and Mexico—their arid landscapes becoming a source of inspiration. Berman would later retire to Rome in 1957, where he lived until his death in 1972.
This work by Berman, as well as his own childhood experience, reminds me of the countless individuals and families who seek refuge in safe lands even today. As many gather this season in celebration of Jesus’ birth, this poignant image serves as a reminder to extend compassion towards those fleeing persecution and seeking personal freedom.
Amy Kelly
Registrar
EUGÈNE BERMAN (1899-1972), Flight into Egypt, 1961, ink and watercolor on paper. OJAC Collection, Gift of Kelly Fearing. 1984.058