Abraham Berline, The Exit oil on canvas, 50x61cm.

Born in Niegine, Ukraine (1894 - ?)

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.

Karl (Tobiasz) Haber, Woman with Dark Hair, oil on canvas, 61x46 cm.Born in Lutomiersk, Poland (1885 - 1943)

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. In the Bialystok Ghetto, Haber worked in the Oskar Stephens workshop, where he was forced to copy paintings by well-known masters.
Karl Haber died in the Bialystok Ghetto in August 1943.

Leon Weissberg, Portrait of Man Sitting (Franz Kafka), oil on canvas, 93x74 cm.

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

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.

Henri (Chaim) Epstein, Young Woman, oil on canvas, 46x33 cm.Born in Lodz, Poland (1891-?)

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. He was also associated with many of the Jewish artists who lived in Paris and with whom he shared a concern for Jewish art and art in general. Epstein's work depicts landscapes, peasants working in the fields, fishermen at work, interiors, portraits, and nudes. Lavishly and vividly painted, this style became typically associated with the "School of Paris." He exhibited his work at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries.

Joachim Weingart, Still Life with Vase and Fruit, oil on cardboard, 58x44 cm.Born in Drochobitch (Galicia), Poland (1895 - ?)

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, and moved to Paris in 1925. In Paris, Weingart continued painting and exhibited his work in the official salons and in galleries, but he underwent a mental crisis that, no doubt, changed the course of his life and work. He spent two years in a mental hospital, where he created some of his finest works.

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.

Fasini was arrested on July 20, 1942, and sent to the concentration camp at Drancy and from there to Auschwitz, where he died.

Naum Arenson Salome, bronze, 26x21x30 cm.

Born in Kreslavka, Latvia (1872 - 1943)

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." Arenson also sculpted the images of great personalities such as Tolstoy, Turgeniev, Beethoven, Dante, and Pasteur. He also received an honorary title from the French government for a sculpture that he exhibited in the 1937 Paris World's Fair.

Nathan Grunsweigh, Still Life with Coffee Pot, oil on vanvas, 46x27 cm.Born in Krakow, Poland (1880 - 1943)

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.

He was deported to Germany and died in a concentration camp in 1943.

Nathalie Kraemer, Portrait of a Young Woman in a White Dress, oil on canvas, 73x54 cm.

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

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. Her work, which was saved and preserved by a collector named Graziani, seems to have been particularly abundant between the years 1936 and 1938.

When the war broke out, Kraemer went into hiding and continued painting. She was arrested and deported to Auschwitz in 1943.

Georges Ascher, Birdcage, oil on canvas, 81x65 cmBorn in Warsaw, Poland (1884 - 1943)

Although 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.

George Kars (Karps), The Green Armchair, 1912, drawing and watercolor, 23x30 cm.

Born in Kraluppy, Czechoslovakia (1880 - 1945)

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. He created drawings, pastels, and oil paintings with traditional themes: landscapes, cityscapes, still life compositions, nudes, and portraits. Kars exhibited his work at the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Tuileries in Paris, the Salon de Grenoble, as well as in Geneva, Amsterdam, London, and Japan. His work can be found in museums in France, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Israel.

Adolphe (Aizik) Feder, Portrait of a Young Boy, watercolor, 41x31 cm.Born in Odessa, Ukraine (1887 - ?)

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. Feder painted landscapes, still life compositions, and figures. He was interested in primitive art, collected African sculptures and Ethiopian paintings, and also traveled extensively. In 1926 he visited Palestine, where he was impressed with Jerusalem and with the Jewish and Arab oriental types. This visit to Palestine yielded a large number of drawings and paintings with Jewish themes which he took back with him to Paris.

Montmartre, 1931, gouache and colored chalk crayon on paper

Born in Quimper, 1876 - died in Drancy, 1944

Max 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. The poet Carl Palme vividly remembers how "...red- haired Max Jacob leapt on a table, tilted his bowler hat, put his thumb in his vest, and recited a satirical poem whistling and dancing a jig between verses." For some years, Max Jacob led a bohemian lifestyle, which alternated with periods of contemplation and penitence. In 1915 he converted to Christianity and in 1921, went into semi-monastic seclusion at Saint-Ben?it-sur- Loire. There he supported himself by painting different aspects of Paris and its suburbs in oil, gouache, and pastels. During World War II, he was deported to the Drancy concentration camp near Paris, where he died in 1944. Many of his paintings are displayed in the Mus?e de Quimper, his home town.

Roman Kramsztyk, The Negro Musician, oil on canvas, 100x81 cm.

Born in Warsaw, Poland (1885 - 1942)

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."* Continuing to take part in Polish exhibitions (e.g. the First Exhibition of Polish Expressionists in Krakow, 1917 and the Exhibition of Polish Legions in Lublin, 1917), Kramsztyk “… was co-founder of the ‘Rytm’ Society of Polish Artists – one of the most important artistic groups of the twenty years between the wars.”

Jacques Cytrynovitch, Young Girl Combing Her Hair, bronze, 34.5x24.5x13 cm.

Born in Odziwal, Poland (1893 - 1942)

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. Cytrynovitch worked with Arenson and Bourdelle, creating sculptures that were true to nature, with an inclination toward the monumental. He exhibited his work at the Salon d'Automne and in various galleries. Work by Cytrynovitch can be found in private collections and museums, including the Philadelphia Art Museum.

Moise (Moshe) Kogan, Standing Nude bronze, 47.5x10x10 cm.

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

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 ?migr? artist. Kogan also exhibited in other Parisian galleries, as well as in Berlin, Leipzig, Hamburg, Munich, and other German cities. Kogan made terracotta figurines and marble, wood, and limestone sculptures, which were very appealing to art lovers in Paris. He was also a master of woodcut, linocut, and lithography. He was interested in the Bible, Jewish history, and mysticism, as well as cultures of the East. His works can be found in museums and private collections in Europe, America, and Israel.

Jacques Gotko (Yankeli Gotkowski), Flowers, 1931, oil on canvas, 41x34 cm.

Born Odessa, Ukraine (1900 - ?)

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.

Joseph Hecht, Noisy Street, oil on canvas, 80x100 cm.Born in Lodz, Poland (1891 -1951)

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. Hecht exhibited his work in the Salon d'Automne and the Salon des Ind?pendants, and won two gold medals at the 1937 Paris World's Fair. He also exhibited in major American cities, England, Poland, and South Africa.