Portrait of Nelson Glueck

Bernard Safran (New York 1924–1995 New Brunswick, Canada)
Oil on board, 1963
Cincinnati Skirball Museum 

Time Magazine Cover
December 13, 1963
Vol. 82 No. 24 

Nelson Glueck (1900–1971), president of Hebrew Union College for thirty-four years, was best known for his work in biblical archeology. Many artifacts that were found under his direction are displayed in the Cincinnati Skirball Museum’s permanent collection. Glueck and his archeological career were featured in a cover story in Time magazine in 1963.  

The original oil portrait depicts Glueck in front of his biblical excavations at Tell el-Khuleifeh. He is wearing a keffiyeh (a traditional Middle Eastern headdress made from a square cotton scarf) as well as a brown Bedouin mantle over his Western button-down shirt. To the right and behind Glueck is a depiction of a statue of Hadad, an ancient Canaanite rain and storm god.  

Bernard Safran was known for his realistic portraits and scenes of everyday life in New York and in rural Canada. He created many portraits for Time magazine covers, with subjects that included Elizabeth II, Pope John XXIII, Dwight D. Eisenhower,  John F. Kennedy, Lyndon B. Johnson and Richard Nixon.