Jehudo epstein biography

Jehudo Epstein was born in Belarus but studied art in Vienna, where he spent most of his adult life.
Jehudo Meier Epstein was born into a poor family in Slonsk, Minsk, in the Russian Pale of Settlement.
Biography.

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Yehudo Epstein 1870-1945

Jehudo Meier Epstein was born into a poor family in Slonsk, Minsk, in the Russian Pale of Settlement. He received a thorough Jewish education, and in a memoir of 1929, ‘My Journey from East to West’, he particularly recalled the observance of the Jewish Holy Days in his childhood. He probably received his first drawing lessons in Vilnius, and studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna (1888-1894), where he won many prizes. Epstein’s theme was eastern-European Jewish life, particularly figures from the Ghetto, as well as scenes from the Bible, landscapes and portraits. During the First World War he was an official Austrian war artist and in 1923 was made a Professor at the Vienna Academy. Following the Nazi rise to power, Epstein visited Cape Town, South Africa, to complete a commission in 1935; and immigrated to South Africa in either 1935 or 1938.After emigration, Epstein lived in Johannesburg with his wife, Gusti, in Gainsborough Mansions, Hillbrow (Berea), until his death on 16 November 1945. Epstein was cremated the following d

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Jehua Meier Epstein

Style

Epstein’s early works were based on the principle of Realism, but over time characteristics of Impressionism emerged: the paintings became more diverse in their mood and colour, they became brighter, and the brushstrokes became increasingly uninhibited. Features of Romanticism are obvious in his transcendental idealised landscapes, such as A Catholic Procession. However, his views from later periods are intensely expressive and emotional. Epstein liked to make detailed pencil sketches of architecture and landscapes. He mastered the depiction of complex multi-figure compositions, and in the process broke established rules. He also enjoyed using unexpected angles for his works. In the picture The Tailor’s Family, he depicted one person at the front with his back to the viewer, and in Prayer he left one side of the picture empty, with a large expanse of wall and just a small child in the corner, while the other characters are all squeezed into the right of the picture.

Epstein painted portraits of famous people, including Theodor Herzl.

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Jehudo Epstein

Jehudo Meier Epstein (* 6. Juli1870 in Sluzk, Gouvernement Minsk, Russland; † 16. November1945 in Johannesburg, Südafrika) war ein jüdischerMaler, der aus dem Gebiet des heutigen Belarus stammte, den überwiegenden Teil seines Lebens aber in Österreich verbrachte.

Leben

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Epstein erhielt ersten Zeichenunterricht in Wilna bei Iwan Petrowitsch Trutnew.^[1] Er durfte aufgrund seiner Herkunft nicht an der Akademie der Künste in Sankt Petersburg studieren. Er ging dann ohne Empfehlungen und ohne Kenntnis der deutschen Sprache nach Wien, wo er 1888 bis 1894 an der Wiener Akademie bei August Eisenmenger studierte.

1894 und 1900 gewann Epstein den Preis der Ersten Michael Beer’schen Stiftung für Maler jüdischer Religion, der jeweils mit einem Stipendium für eine einjährige Italienreise mit mindestens achtmonatigem Studienaufenthalt in Rom dotiert war.^[2] Weitere Reisen führten ihn durch mehrere europäische Länder und auch nach Palästina.

Während des Ersten Weltkriegs war Epstein Mitglied der Kunstgruppe im