b. Zerkow, Poland, 1887 - d. Jerusalem, 1968

Blessing of the Moon, 1920, oil on canvasJacob Steinhardt, who became a well-known Israeli painter and printmaker, left his native Poland in 1906 to study in Berlin, first at the Museum of Arts and Crafts and then under the engraver Hermann Struck. He also studied in Paris under Laurens and Matisse, who apparently had a minor influence on his style.

Steinhardt's association with Expressionism eventually proved to be far more decisive. In 1912, he returned to Berlin and, with Ludwig Meidner, founded the Expressionist art group "Die Pathetiker." In 1933, he left Germany for Palestine and settled in Jerusalem, where he mainly made engravings and lithographs. In 1949 Steinhardt was appointed head of the Graphic Arts Department at the Bezalel Academy of Art, and from 1953 to 1957 he served as the academy's director.