The artwork “Illustration to ‘Chad Gadya'” by El Lissitzky, created in 1919, belongs to the art movement known as Naïve Art or Primitivism. This piece serves as an illustration, likely inspired by the traditional Jewish Passover song “Chad Gadya” (One Little Goat). The genre of the piece is an illustration that may have been intended for a book or similar publication.
The artwork presents a highly stylized and geometric composition dominated by a central circular form—a rooster, which is likely representing a passage from the song. The rooster is rendered in bold red and white tones with elements of black. It stands against a backdrop that includes architecture rendered in a similar abstract style, perhaps symbolizing a village or town. Intricate Hebrew text surrounds the central image, following the curvature of the rooster’s outline and drawing the viewer’s eye in a circular motion around the composition. The overall effect is vivid and dynamic, merging traditional Jewish cultural themes with the avant-garde visual language that was characteristic of El Lissitzky’s work during that period.
