Adam and Eve Mourning Abel
Object numberM2025/082:015
TitleAdam and Eve Mourning Abel
Creator Perle Hessing (artist)
DescriptionPerle Hessing, Adam and Eve Mourning Abel, Oil on canvas, signed and dated 1983.
The artist depicts Eve grieving over Abel's corpse. Behind them is Cain, condemned by God to wandering the earth as a punishment for the murder of his brother. The flames in the background remind us of what caused this terrible event to happen: As recounted in the Book of Genesis, Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd, each present sacrifices to God. God accepts Abel's offering of the firstborn of his flock but rejects Cain's gift of produce. Overcome by jealousy, Cain lures his brother into the field and murders him, committing the first act of human violence. Cain thought he had acted in secret, but God had seen him. This is represented by a large eye on the face of the flying birds.
The artist describes the work: "Two things in particular made me paint this picture. I wanted to convey the idea of these poor parents having to cope with something that was more awful, more terrible than anything they could possibly have imagined, and secondly, to show that if you do something wrong, you can never escape from it. Cain was haunted by his crime for the rest of his days."
Self-taught, naive-style painter, Perle Hessing, draws on her Jewish faith, childhood memories, and personal story of survival. Born in 1908 in Poland, later settling in Australia in 1951, she began painting in her fifties, encouraged by Desiderius Orban (1884-1986), a Hungarian-Australian painter and art teacher. Her work is inspired by biblical stories from the Old Testament, folklore of shtetl life, Jewish rituals, as well as lived experience as a migrant. Her art is symbolic, blending narrative with personal and collective memory. Perle is the mother of artist Leonard Hessing (1931-2004), who was part of Australia's abstract expressionists. Keen to see how he might succeed in Europe, he ended up in London. She moved to the UK in circa 1973 where she died in 2001. In 2023, a collection of 24 paintings was generously donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by her grandson, Theo Hessing.
The artist depicts Eve grieving over Abel's corpse. Behind them is Cain, condemned by God to wandering the earth as a punishment for the murder of his brother. The flames in the background remind us of what caused this terrible event to happen: As recounted in the Book of Genesis, Cain, a farmer, and Abel, a shepherd, each present sacrifices to God. God accepts Abel's offering of the firstborn of his flock but rejects Cain's gift of produce. Overcome by jealousy, Cain lures his brother into the field and murders him, committing the first act of human violence. Cain thought he had acted in secret, but God had seen him. This is represented by a large eye on the face of the flying birds.
The artist describes the work: "Two things in particular made me paint this picture. I wanted to convey the idea of these poor parents having to cope with something that was more awful, more terrible than anything they could possibly have imagined, and secondly, to show that if you do something wrong, you can never escape from it. Cain was haunted by his crime for the rest of his days."
Self-taught, naive-style painter, Perle Hessing, draws on her Jewish faith, childhood memories, and personal story of survival. Born in 1908 in Poland, later settling in Australia in 1951, she began painting in her fifties, encouraged by Desiderius Orban (1884-1986), a Hungarian-Australian painter and art teacher. Her work is inspired by biblical stories from the Old Testament, folklore of shtetl life, Jewish rituals, as well as lived experience as a migrant. Her art is symbolic, blending narrative with personal and collective memory. Perle is the mother of artist Leonard Hessing (1931-2004), who was part of Australia's abstract expressionists. Keen to see how he might succeed in Europe, he ended up in London. She moved to the UK in circa 1973 where she died in 2001. In 2023, a collection of 24 paintings was generously donated to the Sydney Jewish Museum by her grandson, Theo Hessing.
Production date 1983
SubjectJewish life, Jewish artists, , family life
Object namepaintings
Dimensions
- width: 670.00 mm
height: 900.00 mm
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum collection, donated by Theo Hessing.
In appreciation to the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (Claims Conference) for supporting this archival project.