Jacob Kramer was born in the small town of Klintsy, in 1892, then part of the Russian Empire, into an artistic middle-class Jewish family. His father, Max, was a painter who had studied at the St Petersburg Fine Art Academy under Ilya Repin (1844–1930) and had become a court painter to Baron Ginsburg. Kramer's mother, Cecilia, was also artistic, being a trained singer who was well known for touring a regional network of theatres established by her father, at which she performed traditional Slavic and Hebrew folk songs. In 1902, aged only ten, Kramer ran away from his new home in Leeds, taking various jobs in different parts of the north of England, and even going away to sea for six months. During this sojourn away from his family, Kramer attended occasional art classes, but his first formal art education was at Leeds School of Art which he attended from 1907–13. During this time, he was also to become involved in the radical modernist organization the Leeds Arts Club, which introduced him to the ideas of expressionist artists, such as Wassily Kandinsky (1866–1944) and the spiritualist beliefs that came to underpin his work.
With a scholarship from the Jewish Educational Aid Society, Kramer was able to study at the Slade School of Art from 1913–14. He befriended other leading artists of the day, including Augustus John (1878–1961), David Bomberg (1890–1957) and William Roberts (1895–1980). Kramer was involved in the Vorticist movement led by Roberts and Wyndham Lewis, although he was never really a follower of the style. Nonetheless, several of his woodcuts did appear in the Vorticist literary magazine Blast, and other periodicals including Colour, Rhythm and Art and Letters. In London, Kramer rapidly became well known in the hedonistic artistic circles that dominated before the WWI and was to be seen frequently at well-known artistic haunts, including the cabaret-club The vae of the Golden Calf, The Cafe Royal and The Tour Eiffel. In the early 1920s, Kramer returned to Leeds, where he became something of a local artistic celebrity. After the collapse of the Leeds Arts Club in 1923 he had numerous schemes to establish a new artistic meeting place in the city, almost all of which came to nothing. The great exception to this was the informal gathering called the Yorkshire Luncheon Club, which met regularly at Whitelock's public house in Leeds and invited some of the leading cultural figures of the 1930s, 40s and 50s to Leeds to speak.
For the most part, however, Kramer's return to Leeds was not a triumph, and he lived in utter poverty and alcoholism, often producing poor quality portraits of local figures to pay for his drinks. None of this later work does justice to the startling quality and originality of Kramer's earlier work, including paintings such as The Day of Atonement, The Talmudists, The Jew, Mother and Child, and the 1922 Abstract Expressionist painting Musical Theme. His friend Jacob Epstein made a bust of him, copies of which can be found in the Tate in London and at Leeds City Art Gallery. The Tate, the Victoria & Albert Museum and the British Museum all hold examples of Kramer's work, but the most extensive collections can be found in Leeds at the Leeds City Art Gallery and Leeds University Art Gallery.
Portrait of Hilda Wilkinson in Green Dress - Jewish 20's Slade art oil painting
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Hagley, England
This enigmatic 1920's Art Deco Slade School portrait oil painting is by noted Russian born British artist Jacob Kramer. Painted circa 1922 it is a seated portrait of Miss Hilda Wilki...
Oil
Study of Young Girl - 20th Century Portrait Drawing in Ink, Pencil and Crayon
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Kingsclere, GB
Study of Young Girl, Ink and Crayon Painting by Jacob Kramer Additional information: Medium: Ink, pencil and crayon 20.3 x 17.8 cm 8 x 7 in Signed Provenance Private Collection, UK.
Ink, Crayon, Pencil
Portrait of Grace - British 1920's art female chalk portrait
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Hagley, England
This enigmatic 1920's Art Deco portrait is by noted Russian born British artist Jacob Kramer. Worked in chalk/pastel on paper it is a portrait of 'Grace'. There is strong emphasis on...
Chalk, Pastel
Portrait of George Hopkinson - British 20's male oil painting Russian Jewish art
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Hagley, England
This superb portrait oil painting is by noted Russian Jewish artist Jacob Kramer. The sitter is a friend of the artist, George Hopkinson, proud Yorkshireman and textile businessman w...
Oil
$5,569
Portrait Head and Shoulders of a Man - Jewish 20s art male portrait oil painting
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Hagley, England
Jacob Kramer is a Jewish artist who migrated with his family to Leeds to escape the Russian pogroms when Kramer was only eight. This portrait oil painting was painted when Kramer was thirty, in 1922, shortly after his return to Leeds from living in London. It is a head and shoulders portrait of a gentleman with dark hair, gazing to his right, his identity unknown. The light from the left hand side of the painting strongly illuminates the left side of the gentleman's face, making it stand out from the darker background and casts strong shadow on the right. The brushwork is bold and confident in its execution. This is an excellent example of Kramer's Post Impresionist work in the early 1920's when at his artistic peak. Signed and dated 1922 lower right. Provenance. Yorkshire estate. Condition. Oil on canvas, 20 inches by 16 inches and in good condition. Frame. Housed in an ebonised frame, 23 inches by 19 inches, in good condition. Jacob Kramer (1892-1962) was born in the small town of Klintsy in 1892, then part of the Russian Empire, into an artistic middle class Jewish family. His father, Max, was a painter who had studied at the St Petersburg Fine Art Academy under Ilya Repin, and had become a court painter to Baron Ginsburg. Kramer's mother, Cecilia, was also artistic being a trained singer who was well known for touring a regional network of theatres established by her father, at which she performed traditional Slavic and Hebrew folk songs. Following the accession of Tsar Nicholas II in 1894 a new virulent anti-semitic policy was introduced to force Russian Jews...
Oil
$368Sale Price|79% Off
H 22.45 in W 16.93 in D 0.4 in
Berty Seuron, 1st Dancer by Leon-Laurent Galand - Drawing - 43x57 cm
By Leon-Laurent Galand 1
Located in Geneva, CH
Sold without the frame. Léon Laurent Galand is a French painter and illustrator born April 18, 1872 in Montpellier (Hérault) and died November 4, 1960 in Clichy (Hauts-de-Seine). L...
Chalk, Crayon
$326Sale Price|40% Off
H 23.23 in W 15.36 in D 1.19 in
Portrait Of A Young Girl In A Lilac Dress With A Black Bow. Circa 1860. SIgned.
Located in Firenze, IT
Portrait of a young girl in a lilac dress with a black bow. Circa 1860. Signature below right, partially visible. Size with frame 59cm x 49cm Size without frame 33cm x 24cm The portrait depicts a young girl with an elegant hairstyle, her hair carefully tied back. Dressed in the fashion of the 1860s, her light lilac dress reflects the synthetic aniline colors, a novelty in fashion at the time. A black bow at the neck and slightly black straps accentuate her attire. Represented at mid-length, with a mysterious and melancholic gaze, suggesting a mourning endured over a year ago. The portrait, executed in pastels, chalks, and charcoals on paper, highlights the mastery and speed of the artist's execution. Framed in a vintage oval frame...
Paper, Chalk, Crayon, Carbon Pencil
$2,000
H 12 in W 12 in
"Wood Nymph" (2018) By John Tarantola, Nude Oil Portrait Painting
Located in Denver, CO
John Tarantola's original nude portrait "Wood Nymph" (2018) is a beautiful realist painting done with oil on panel, which depicts an athletic nude male figure standing in a forest, p...
Oil, Panel
$724
H 18.9 in W 14.57 in D 1.58 in
Fine Early 20th Century Figurative Male Nude Study - English Oil Painting
Located in Cirencester, GB
ARTIST: John Nicolson RBA RSW (1891-1951) British TITLE: "Male Nude In The Studio" MEDIUM: oil on canvas laid to board SIZE: 48cm x 37cm incl frame CONDITION: very good NOTES: Bor...
Oil
$779Sale Price|20% Off
H 14 in W 22 in D 1 in
The Gorch Fock II Tall Ship of the German Navy
By Louis Letouche
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Gorch Fock II by Louis Letouche (French 1924-2015) oil painting on linen canvas, stretched over board framed Framed size: 14 x 22.5 inches Superb oil painting by the well listed French marine artist Louis Letouche (1924-2015). The painting portrays the German navy...
Oil
$10,443
H 35.04 in W 31.11 in D 1.97 in
19th century portrait military officer 5th Royal Lancashire Militia, East Lancs
Located in York, GB
A fine 19th century oil on canvas portrait stated to be Captain Paul John Henry Butler, 5th Royal Lancashire Militia, half length, wearing breast star. Hou...
Oil
$1,670
H 26.97 in W 21.46 in
Gentleman with a Pipe - 1930's French Post Impressionist Portrait Oil Painting
Located in Sevenoaks, GB
A striking 1930's French post-impressionist oil on board portrait of a gentleman smoking a pipe by Antonin Guéton. Excellent quality and condition post-impressionist portrait. Sign...
Oil, Board
Table Setting With Bunch of Flowers
Located in Saint-Ouen, FR
COSSON, Jean Louis Marcel (1878 – 1956) The Bunch and The Maid circa 1930 Oil on canvas signed up left Framed by GAULT (Paris) Dimensions canvas : 56 X 46 cm Dimensions frame : 74 X...
Oil
$1,782Sale Price|20% Off
H 22 in W 18 in
1940's French Portrait of Young Man Original Signed Oil on Canvas Period Frame
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Portrait of a Man by Roger Allain (French 1920-1992) signed and dated 1941 (a very rare period due to WW2) oil on canvas canvas: 22 x 18 inches provenance...
Oil, Canvas
$2,200
H 22.5 in W 19 in
Judaica Oil Painting 1945 Palestine Old Jewish Man Polish Israeli Artist
By Ozer Shabat
Located in Surfside, FL
Ozer Shabat 1978-1901 Ozer Shabbat was an Israeli painter, a resident of Haifa. Belonged to the Palestine Expressionist group of the late 1920s and early 1930s. Shabbat was born in Wolbrom, Poland. At the end of the First World War he went to Holland for agricultural training in the framework of the HeChalutz movement, prior to his immigration to Palestine. In 1920 he immigrated to Eretz Israel and joined the Hulda group. Later he joined the Merhavia group and there he began painting. Because of his desire to study drawing, he left the group and moved to Jerusalem. In 1921, he wrote articles in the newspaper "HaSadeh" on the subject of agriculture and Dutch cheese. Ozer Shabath won the first prize in a competition for the design of the Dutch Consulate's Garden in Jerusalem, enabling him to travel to Paris in 1923 to study painting. Until 1925 he studied painting at the Grande Chaumiere Academy in Paris. This year he returned to Eretz Israel and settled in Haifa, where he lived until his death. In 1928 he participated for the first time in an exhibition of Eretz Israel artists at the Tower of David. Since then he has participated in all the general exhibitions of Israeli artists. In 1934, together with painters Menachem Shemi, Avraham Mohar, Zvi Meirovitch and others, he founded the Haifa Artists' Group. In 1935-36 he toured Europe and visited Italy, France and England. During his visit, he maintained contacts with artists from the Jewish school of Paris. He has exhibited in several solo exhibitions, represented Israel in exhibitions in Europe and participated in international exhibitions in New York, Johannesburg and Zurich. In 1958 he represented Israel in the Venice Biennale. In 1960, Shabat, together with Elchanan Halpern he represented the Israeli Painters Association at the International Congress of Plastic Arts held in Vienna, Austria . In the 40s and 50s he focused on landscape pictures. However, despite the focus on the Israeli landscape, the approach is universal in the framework of the post-Impressionist painting school. In the 1960s, his approach changed and he turned more to abstraction. The abstract direction gradually evolved. The point of departure of the abstract approach is the architectural landscape, but this view loses its real character and becomes only imaginary: the buildings lose their real character and turn into exclusive geometric areas that are usually set against a dark background. Over time, architecture captured the lion's share of his paintings. Cities like Safed, Jaffa and Jerusalem are the subject of many pictures. He taught painting and art at the schools of the kibbutzim in Ramat Yochanan and Kfar Yehoshua, in high schools in Haifa and in the IDF and Gordon seminars. His paintings were purchased and are in the permanent collection of the Bezalel National Museum (now the Israel Museum), Haifa Museum of Art, Haifa Maritime Museum, Acre Municipal Museum. Select Solo exhibitions 1936 - Nadler Gallery, Haifa. 1943 - The Tel Aviv Museum of Art. 1952 - Artists House, Haifa. 1953 - Bezalel House, Jerusalem. 1955 - Gallery in Geneva, Switzerland. 1955 - The Writers' Club, Haifa. 1959 - Artists House, Haifa. 1960 - Museum of Modern Art, Haifa. 1962 - Museum of Modern Art, Haifa. 1963 - Gallery 220, Tel Aviv. 1968 - The Municipal Museum of Beit Emanuel, Ramat Gan. 1979 - Memorial exhibition marking the first anniversary...
Canvas, Oil
$953
H 22 in W 18 in
French Mid Century Oil Painting Portrait Nude Woman with Long Dark Hair
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Artists Model Artist/ School: Suzanne Dinkés (French, 1895 - 1984) Medium: oil on canvas, unframed Inscribed verso Size : 22 x 18 inches Provenance: private collection, France Co...
Oil
$1,336Sale Price|20% Off
H 24 in W 18 in D 1 in
Elegant Blue Eyed Lady French Portrait Impressionist Signed Oil
By Josine Vignon
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Lady Portrait by Josine Vignon (French 1922-2022) signed on front and back oil painting on canvas, unframed canvas: 24 x 18 inches Colors: Grey colors, pink, red, blue, brown and c...
Canvas, Oil
Nude
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Douglas, Isle of Man
Jacob Kramer 1892 - 1962, was a Ukrainian born painter. Kramer was born in the former Russian Empire now known as Ukraine, his parents were artistically trained his father was a pain...
Oil, Panel
Vase of Flowers
By Jacob Kramer
Located in London, GB
61 x 51 cm (24 x 20 inches) Signed lower right, Kramer Born in the small Ukrainian (Russian Empire) town of Klincy in 1892, Kramer’s father Max, and his uncle Cion, were both painte...
Canvas, Oil