The son of a prosperous German Jewish wool merchant who had settled in Bradford, England, the painter William Rothenstein studied in London and Paris. He was known especially for his portraits of famous men, over two hundred of which are in the collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London, and for his work as an official war artist in both world wars. At the turn of the century, he produced an important group of paintings of East End immigrant synagogue life, but, aside from his portraits of contemporary Jews (such as that of the graphic designer and lithographer Barnett Freedman), he never returned to Jewish subjects in later decades.
Lerski’s portrait of a young Polish Jewish immigrant to Palestine is in his distinctive, expressionist style. Using mirrors and reflectors to emphasize the transformative powers of light, Lerski liked…
In 1829, German Jewish metallurgist Lewis Feuchtwanger attempted to introduce a metal alloy known as “German silver” into U.S. coinage, promoting this nickel silver as a less-expensive alternative for…
Maurice Ascalon, sometimes called the father of modern Israeli decorative arts, was commissioned to create this sculpture for the façade of the Palestine Pavilion of the 1939 New York World’s Fair…