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Jewish Artists Who Perished in the Holocaust

In 1978 the noted late Swiss collector, Dr. Oscar Ghez, presented the University of Haifa with 137 works of art by 18 artists who perished in the Holocaust. Founder and president of the Petit Palais Museum in Geneva, Oscar Ghez de Castelnuovo had been collecting art since 1945, and his collection represented most European art movements and schools from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His first, accidental encounter with a few artworks by artists lost to the Holocaust inspired Dr. Ghez to search for more works of this nature.

Born in Lutomiersk, Poland (1885 - 1943)

Karl (Tobiasz) Haber, Woman with Dark Hair, oil on canvas, 61x46 cm.Karl (Tobiasz) Haber, Woman with Dark Hair, oil on canvas, 61x46 cm.While living in Lodz, Karl Haber worked as an artist's model, and subsequently started painting himself. He left for Paris and lived and worked there for a while, but returned to Lodz sometime in the 1930s.Following the German invasion, Haber moved to Bialystok and worked as a teacher until the Germans arrived there.

Born in Niegine, Ukraine (1894 - ?)

Abraham Berline, The Exit oil on canvas, 50x61cm.Abraham Berline, The Exit oil on canvas, 50x61cm.Abraham Berline arrived in Paris to study at the École des Beaux-Arts. He primarily painted Parisian cityscapes, which were exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Tuileries, and the Paul Appel Gallery. When France was invaded, Berline joined the Resistance, but in May of 1941 he was arrested and interned in the concentration camp in Compigne.

Born in Lodz, Poland (1891-?)

Henri (Chaim) Epstein, Young Woman, oil on canvas, 46x33 cm.Henri (Chaim) Epstein, Young Woman, oil on canvas, 46x33 cm.Epstein began painting in his home town, Lodz, where he worked in a collective atelier shared by local Jewish painters, and then left for Munich to study at the Academy of Art. He settled in Paris in 1931, lived in La Ruche, and participated in classes at the art academy, La Grande Chaumire. Becoming friendly with Utrillo and meeting many contemporary Parisian masters, Epstein was deeply involved in the contemporary art discourse.

Born in Przeworsk (Galicia), Poland (1895 - 1943)

Leon Weissberg, Portrait of Man Sitting (Franz Kafka), oil on canvas, 93x74 cm.Leon Weissberg, Portrait of Man Sitting (Franz Kafka), oil on canvas, 93x74 cm.Leon Weissberg received a traditional Jewish education and studied in the art academies of Vienna and Munich from 1914-15. In 1923, he arrived in Paris, where he primarily painted Parisian cityscapes, flower compositions, and circus scenes. Leon Weissberg exhibited regularly in the various salons of Paris, and in 1929 he exhibited his noteworthy painting, "The Jewish Bride," in Galerie Bonaparte.

Alex Fasini (Shaul Feinsilber), Still Life with Pears, oil on canvas, 50.5x65.5 cm.Alex Fasini (Shaul Feinsilber), Still Life with Pears, oil on canvas, 50.5x65.5 cm.Born Odessa, Ukraine (1892 - ?) 

Alex Fasini studied at the Art Academy of Odessa with the Impressionist painter of Greek origin, Costandi. Arriving in Paris in 1922, Fasini engaged in both painting and photography. He exhibited his paintings at the Salon des Tuileries and other Parisian galleries, and his photographs at the 1937 Paris World's Fair.

Born in Drochobitch (Galicia), Poland (1895 - ?)

Joachim Weingart, Still Life with Vase and Fruit, oil on cardboard, 58x44 cm.Joachim Weingart, Still Life with Vase and Fruit, oil on cardboard, 58x44 cm.Joachim Weingart received a traditional Jewish education as well as a secular education. He studied at the Weimar School of Applied Arts in 1912 and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. He then moved to Berlin, where he worked with Archipenko for two years. After World War I, Weingart returned to Galicia, worked and exhibited in Lvov,

Born in Krakow, Poland (1880 - 1943)

Nathan Grunsweigh, Still Life with Coffee Pot, oil on vanvas, 46x27 cm.Nathan Grunsweigh, Still Life with Coffee Pot, oil on vanvas, 46x27 cm.Grunsweigh arrived in Paris before World War I. He was associated with the "School of Paris" group, and some of his paintings reflect styles that were commonly used by it. However, he also developed a highly individualistic style in which he painted figures with great precision, paying close attention to characterizing details. Grunsweigh exhibited in the Salon des Indep?ndants and the Salon des Tuileries.

Born in Kreslavka, Latvia (1872 - 1943)

Naum Arenson Salome, bronze, 26x21x30 cm.Naum Arenson Salome, bronze, 26x21x30 cm.Showing skill for woodcarving as a boy, Naum Arenson enrolled in an art school in Vilna. In 1892, however, he set out for Paris, where he studied at the Academy of Decorative Arts for a short while. His preference for France and its artistic milieu did not cut him off from his native country and Russian Jewry. Many of his sculptures depict Jewish themes, such as the monument "Kiddush Hashem," which was prompted by the Kishinev Pogrom in 1903, and other works such as "Bar Mitzvah" and "The Prophet."

Born in Warsaw, Poland (1884 - 1943)

Georges Ascher, Birdcage, oil on canvas, 81x65 cmGeorges Ascher, Birdcage, oil on canvas, 81x65 cmAlthough trained as an architect, Georges Ascher arrived in Paris in 1925 and devoted himself entirely to painting. Later, he moved with his family to the port town of La Ciotat where he mainly painted landscapes, still life compositions, and Jewish themes. Ascher exhibited at the Salon d'Automne of 1933. In 1943, he was arrested and sent to the concentration camp of Gurs. Most of his work has since disappeared.





Born in Paris, France (1891 or 1883 - ?)

Nathalie Kraemer, Portrait of a Young Woman in a White Dress, oil on canvas, 73x54 cm.Nathalie Kraemer, Portrait of a Young Woman in a White Dress, oil on canvas, 73x54 cm.Very little is known about Nathalie Kraemer, whose paintings have a distinct and powerful spiritual quality. A poet as well as a painter, Kraemer published two collections of poems in 1927 called "Rising Voices," for which she was awarded a literary prize. Painting, however, was her preferred medium, as she found its expressive power greater than that of poetry.

Born in Odessa, Ukraine (1887 - ?)

Adolphe (Aizik) Feder, Portrait of a Young Boy, watercolor, 41x31 cm.Adolphe (Aizik) Feder, Portrait of a Young Boy, watercolor, 41x31 cm.Adolphe Feder received a traditional Jewish education as well as a secular education. He went to Berlin and then to Geneva in 1909-1910, where he studied painting. He arrived in Paris in 1910 and studied for two years at the Julian Academy and one year at the Matisse Studio. He exhibited at the Salon d'Automne for the first time in 1912 and thereafter became a member.

Born in Kraluppy, Czechoslovakia (1880 - 1945)

George Kars (Karps), The Green Armchair, 1912, drawing and watercolor, 23x30 cm.George Kars (Karps), The Green Armchair, 1912, drawing and watercolor, 23x30 cm.George Kars received art tutoring at home from an early age. Between 1900 and 1905, Kars was in Munich, where he studied painting at the Academy and the History of Art at the University. In 1908, he settled in Paris. 

Prior to his move to Paris, his work was Impressionistic in style, but while in Paris, Kars was mainly influenced by Cubism and his work became rather analytical.

Born in Warsaw, Poland (1885 - 1942)

Roman Kramsztyk, The Negro Musician, oil on canvas, 100x81 cm.Roman Kramsztyk, The Negro Musician, oil on canvas, 100x81 cm.Roman Kramsztyk studied art in Munich from 1904-1908. "For 30 years – from [his] debut in the Warsaw Zachta [the Warsaw Society for the Encouragement of Fine Arts] in 1909 up to 1939 – Kramsztyk was one of the most important participants in Polish artistic life. Even though he had been living in Paris since 1911 (with an interlude during the years 1915-1922) and regularly presented his works at Salons (des Ind?pendants, Automne, and des Tuilleries), he had never broken ties with his homeland."*

Born in Quimper, 1876 - died in Drancy, 1944

Montmartre, 1931, gouache and colored chalk crayon on paperMontmartre, 1931, gouache and colored chalk crayon on paperMax Jacob, a French Jew, was a painter, a poet, a novelist, a playwright, and a critic, who played an important role in the formative years of Cubism as well as in thenew directions of modern poetry during the early 20th century. His poetry was made up of an amalgam of Jewish, Breton, Parisian, and Roman-Catholic elements. 

Born in Orgeiew (or Argeiur), Bessarabia (1879 - ?)

Moise (Moshe) Kogan, Standing Nude bronze, 47.5x10x10 cm.Moise (Moshe) Kogan, Standing Nude bronze, 47.5x10x10 cm.Moise Kogan was educated in the spirit of Jewish tradition, but in 1903 he enrolled in the Art Academy of Munich. In 1910, he moved to Paris, where he was both influenced and appreciated by Maillol. While exhibiting his work at the Salon d'Automne in 1925, Kogan was elected vice president of the sculpture committee, a remarkably unusual appointment for an immigrant artist.

Born in Odziwal, Poland (1893 - 1942)

Jacques Cytrynovitch, Young Girl Combing Her Hair, bronze, 34.5x24.5x13 cm.Jacques Cytrynovitch, Young Girl Combing Her Hair, bronze, 34.5x24.5x13 cm.Jacques Cytrynovitch received a traditional Jewish education as well as a vocational education. During World War I, he was interned in a coal mine by the Germans, but he subsequently participated in the November 1918 revolution in Berlin. Following the war, he moved to Paris in response to a long-standing invitation by Naum Arenson, who had met him before the war and encouraged him to come to Paris.

Born in Lodz, Poland (1891 -1951)

Joseph Hecht, Noisy Street, oil on canvas, 80x100 cm.Joseph Hecht, Noisy Street, oil on canvas, 80x100 cm.Joseph Hecht studied at the Art Academy of Cracow from 1909 to 1914, and then left for Norway where he worked and exhibited until 1919. He arrived in Paris in 1920 and mostly made engravings of animal figures, which were published in Paris in a number of collections between 1926 and 1938.

Born Odessa, Ukraine (1900 - ?)

Jacques Gotko (Yankeli Gotkowski), Flowers, 1931, oil on canvas, 41x34 cm.Jacques Gotko (Yankeli Gotkowski), Flowers, 1931, oil on canvas, 41x34 cm.At the age of five, Jacques Gotko moved with his family to Paris, where he later studied at the École des Beaux Arts. He worked first as an architect, then as a film set designer, and only later decided to devote himself to painting, especially watercolors and pastels. Gotko exhibited at the Salon d'Automne, the Zak Gallery, and had a particularly successful show at the Jean Castel Gallery in 1939. This, however, would be Gotko's last exhibition.

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