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.
Seated Figure
By Jacob Kramer
Located in London, GB
Oil on canvas 69cm x 41cm (83cm x 58cm framed) Painter, draughtsman and printmaker, born in Klincy, Ukraine. His father and uncle were both artists. Kramer arrived in England in 190...
Canvas, Oil
Spring Flowers in Vase - British Forties exh. art floral still life oil painting
By Jacob Kramer
Located in Hagley, England
This vibrant British Post Impressionist exhibited floral still life oil painting is by noted Jewish artist Jacob Kramer. His family left Russia to come to England in 1900 when Kramer...
Oil
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
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
Standing Figure
By Jacob Kramer
Located in London, GB
Oil on canvas 69cm x 41cm (83cm x 58cm framed) Painter, draughtsman and printmaker, born in Klincy, Ukraine. His father and uncle were both artists. Kramer arrived in England in 190...
Canvas, Oil
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
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
$5,426
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
Child atop a wall
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Paul Louis Narcisse GROLLERON (Seignelay 1848 – Paris 1901) Child atop a wall Oil on canvas H. 60 cm ; W. 73 cm Signed and dated lower right – 1884 Paul Grolleron belongs to the generation of French painters who, during the second half of the 19th century, revitalized military painting through a keen and sensitive observation of soldiers' lives. Born in 1848 in Seignelay (Yonne), he trained in Paris under Léon Bonnat, receiving instruction grounded in rigorous draftsmanship and powerful structural composition. Exhibiting at the Salon from 1873 onwards, Grolleron developed a body of work dedicated to military painting, history painting, and genre scenes. He drew his primary inspiration from 19th-century conflicts, particularly the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–1871. Far from portraying war in an exclusively heroic light, the artist focused on lived experiences: marches, halts, bivouacs, reconnaissance missions, and combat scenes. The precision with which he rendered uniforms, equipment, and postures lends his compositions both a narrative and a documentary quality. His art is distinguished by solid draftsmanship, accuracy of detail, and remarkable compositional mastery. Notable works exhibited at the Salon include *Épisode de 1870* (Episode of 1870), *Combat en 1870 sous les murs de Paris* (Combat in 1870 beneath the walls of Paris), *Sur le qui-vive, à Buzenval* (On the Alert at Buzenval), and *Épisode de la bataille de Loigny* (Episode from the Battle of Loigny). An award-winning Salon artist whose work is held in both public and private collections, Grolleron remains a significant figure in French military painting...
Canvas, Oil
$9,500
H 10.625 in W 9 in
Giverny, American Impressionist, Karl Albert Buehr, Expatriot, c. 1910
By Karl Albert Buehr
Located in Fairlawn, OH
Karl Albert Buehr (1866-1952) untitled (Woman by the Windows) (Mary, the Artist's wife) Unsigned. Pastel on board, c. 1915 Created while the artist was in Giverny, France Provenance...
Pastel
$860
H 13 in W 10 in
"Untitled" (2014) - Oil Painting of Nude Reclining Female Figure
By Rebecca Venn
Located in Denver, CO
Rebecca Venn's (US based) "Untitled" is an original, handmade oil painting on canvas paper that depicts a nude female model laying on her back. This pai...
Oil
$15,000
H 30.5 in W 24.5 in D 2.5 in
“Hon. George King, 1788” Pastel Portrait, Young Boy with Cricket Ball and Dog
By John Russell
Located in Yardley, PA
“Hon. George King, 1788” by John Russell (1745-1806) Regarded as Britain’s foremost pastellist, John Russell is well known for his portraits of the wealthy middle class. In particul...
Canvas, Paper, Pastel
$3,300Sale Price|40% Off
H 32 in W 27 in D 3 in
Mid Century Portrait of Artist Doris Rohr of Carmel
By Abel Warshawsky
Located in Soquel, CA
Wonderful mid century portrait of Carmel artist Doris Estelle Rohr by listed California artist Abel George (Buck) Warshawsky (American, 1883-1962). Signed "A.G. Warshawsky Dec. 22 52...
Masonite, Oil
$22,691
H 21.46 in W 18.12 in
Presumed Portrait of Jean-Jacques-Blaise Baloin de Belvèse, Baron de Vennac
Located in BELEYMAS, FR
Marianne Loir (Paris 1705 – Paris 1783) Presumed Portrait of Jean-Jacques-Blaise Baloin de Belvèse, Baron de Vennac (?-1781) Oil on oval canvas H. 54.5 cm; W. 46 cm Unsigned Grandda...
Canvas, Oil
$4,884
H 28.75 in W 23.23 in
'Bearded Man in Profile', oil on canvas by a French School artist
Located in London, GB
French School 'Bearded Man in Profile' c. 1880 Oil on canvas 73 x 59 cm, 90 x 76 cm framed Unsigned
Canvas, Oil
Portrait Sketch
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
A portrait of a male head, in profile by BenFenske. The artist uses a variety of colors to convey a naturalist impression. Artist Bio Ben Fenske (b. 1978) although a native of Minn...
Paper, Conté, Crayon
Myth of Ganymede riding astride Zeus as an eagle oil on canvas
Located in Hudson, NY
Ganymede was a Trojan prince in Greek mythology, known for his compelling beauty. Because of his alluring good looks, Ganymede was abducted by Zeus to serve as cup-bearer in Olympus....
Canvas, Oil
$612
H 13.19 in W 9.85 in D 0.04 in
Portrait Drawing, Pencil Pastel Charcoal on Paper, Signed, 1938
By Jacqueline Barbet
Located in Roma, IT
Portrait is an artwork realized by the french Artist Jacqueline Barbet (1902-1975), in 1938. Pencil, pastel and charcoal rawing on paper. Hand-signed and dated in pencil in Roman nu...
Charcoal, Pastel, Pencil
$24,460
H 23.25 in W 18.5 in
18th century pastel portrait of Lady Augusta Corbett and her son, Stuart
By Daniel Gardner
Located in London, GB
Collections: Commissioned by Andrew Corbett, husband of the sitter; The Venerable Stuart Corbett; Sir Stuart Corbett; By descent to 2002; Sotheby’s, London 21 March 2002, lot.104; Lowell Libson...
Pastel, Gouache
$3,125
H 18.51 in W 1.97 in D 1.19 in
Original 1950's English oil painting Self Portrait With His Wife by John Walton
Located in Cirencester, GB
ARTIST: John Walton RP (1925-2023) British TITLE: "Self Portrait Of The Artist And His Wife" (c.1953/1954) SIGNED: verso with numerous Bourlet exhibtions MEDIUM: oil on board SIZ...
Oil
Female Portrait Sketch #2
By Ben Fenske
Located in Sag Harbor, NY
A colorful sketch of a female bust, in the style of contemporary academic realism. Artist Bio Ben Fenske (b. 1978) although a native of Minnesota, a...
Paper, Conté, Crayon
$3,432
H 19.69 in W 13.78 in D 0.79 in
Judgment II - Contemporary Figurative Oil Painting, Sea, Beach View, Realism
By Julita Malinowska
Located in Hallein, AT
In this painting, the artist quotes a man rising from the grave, dazzled by the light of the risen Christ from the masterpiece of Hans Memling, "The Last Judgment”.. Julita Malinows...
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