And the Lord said to Moses, “Say to the people of Israel, ‘You shall keep my sabbaths, for this is a sign between me and you throughout your generations, that you may know that I, the Lord, sanctify you’”. (Exodus 31:12–13)

Isidor Kaufmann’s Friday Evening is a composition replete with contrasts. Traditional in its subject matter, it is Modernist in style. At the time when key Modernist movements were beginning to emerge in Western Europe, Isidor Kaufmann made his name travelling throughout Eastern Europe, painting genre scenes of Jewish life and religious observance.

In Friday Evening, the sole figure—a female in traditional garb—calls to mind seventeenth-century Dutch genre paintings. However, unlike those interior scenes, where the women depicted are often engaged in mundane domestic activities, this figure gives an impression of piety through her contemplative gaze and solitude.

Her table displays the necessary ritual objects for the start of Shabbat: two candles in candlesticks, a kiddish cup for wine, and (it can be inferred) two loaves of challah at the back of the table covered with a napkin. The candles are lit—an obligation equally expected of men and women—indicating sundown has occurred. Yet the bread remains covered, implying the Sabbath meal has not yet begun. And indeed, the woman appears to be in a state of waiting, with a downcast gaze, clasped hands, and a position adjacent to, rather than facing, the table.

The Shabbat candles, cup, and covered loaves are replicated through the compositional device of the mirror, which, interestingly, appears to reflect only these ritual objects and nothing else. These series of pairs, including the two wall sconces, serve as counterpoints to the solitary figure, as does the empty second chair.

Compositionally striking is the array of white, off-white, and beige tones Kaufmann employs. He creates a sense of three dimensionality through his use of these varied hues and an expressionistic painting technique. The predominant light tones are contrasted by the figure’s mauve dress, while the formality of the room, with its elegant ritual and decorative objects, is belied by the imperfect, creased tablecloth, the most clearly articulated lines in the composition.

Even with its apparent contradictions, Friday Evening conveys the sanctity referred to in Exodus 31:13, as the figure ensures the holiness of the Sabbath is preserved through the continuity of ritual.