Leo Schutzman Paintings
American, Russian, 1878-1962
Leo (Kyle) Schutzman (1878?-1962) developed a reputation in New York in
the 1950s as the ‘Jewish Grandma Moses.’ The characterization was particularly
appropriate. Both artists only took up painting in a serious way in their old age
after retiring from work. They also shared a popular aesthetic style then known as
‘primitivism’ or ‘naive art,’ far from the abstract expressionism that was the art
critic’s darling at the time.
Schutzman was born Leo Kyle in Russia around 1878. His father died when
he was 3 years old and he immigrated to England in his teens, where he remained
for 9 years. When he moved to the United States in 1905, he took the name
Schutzman after a German family who was renting to his nephew, Louis Kyle.
In New York City, Schutzman worked in the Jewish-dominated clothing
industry, producing underwear as well as lace and embroidery. He founded the
Victory Undergarment Company and the business was successful enough to
provide for his family until he retired at about age 74.
After retirement, Schutzman took art courses at the Brooklyn Museum and
began painting. He often depicted scenes of Jewish religious life that he
remembered from childhood in Russia. His work seemed the very definition of
‘naive art’ as it was personified by Grandma Moses in the 1950s. His clumsy
human figures sometimes had no features at all, or were portrayed with just a slash
for the mouth and two dots for the eyes. He had only the vaguest sense of
perspective and often used dissonant colors in unusual places.
Schutzman had his first one-man show in 1958, when he was 80 years old, at
The Contemporaries gallery (992 Madison Ave.). His optimistic primitivism was
popular in the United States in the 1950s as was his backstory; an immigrant who
had succeeded as an entrepreneur in the capitalist system before affirming the
democratic individualist creed that everyone had talents and could accomplish
something at any age. He was soon socializing at parties with people like
heiress/artist Gloria Vanderbilt. One of his ‘non-Jewish’ works depicting a winter
carnival was chosen in 1962 for the United Nations Children’s Fund Christmas
Card Collection.
When Grandma Moses died in 1961, naive art began to lose popularity
Schutzman was living in Glendale Queens when he died at age 83 in 1962 and his
reputation soon disappeared. In 1986, two of his paintings were acquired by the
Jewish Museum in New York City. One of them, “The Wedding,” (c. 1960) was an
iconic portrait of an Ashkenazic wedding. It has been reproduced by the Jewish
Museum on popular stationery, and has appeared in popular books such as The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism.to
1
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
784
700
663
659
2
2
Artist: Leo Schutzman
"The Marriage Proposal (Family Gathering), " Leo Schutzman, Jewish Folk Art
By Leo Schutzman
Located in New York, NY
Leo Schutzman (1878 - 1962)
The Marriage Proposal, circa 1958
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches
Signed lower left
Leo (Kyle) Schutzman (1878-1962) developed ...
Category
1950s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Simchat Torah in the Synagogue, " Leo Schutzman, Jewish Folk Art
By Leo Schutzman
Located in New York, NY
Leo Schutzman (1878 - 1962)
Simchat Torah in the Synagogue, circa 1958
Oil on canvas
40 x 36 inches
Signed lower left
Provenance:
The Contemporaries Gal...
Category
1950s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$8,000 Sale Price
20% Off
Related Items
Whimsical Naive Mediterranean Seaside Interior Folk Art Oil Painting Fanch Ledan
By Fanch (Francois Ledan)
Located in Surfside, FL
Francois "Fanch" Ledan (Born 1949) French American artist
Oil on Canvas.
Hand signed and dated
2002
Dimensions: overall Size: 25 1/4 x 25 1/4 in. Sight Size: 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.
D...
Category
20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$3,200
H 25.25 in W 25.25 in
Balance, Whimsical female with flowers, roses, bright golden sky
By Stephen Basso
Located in Brooklyn, NY
*ABOUT Stephen Basso
Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...
Category
2010s Outsider Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$3,200
H 40 in W 40 in D 2 in
Fine 1950's English Oil Grand Interior Room Scene Ancestral Portraits signed
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
The Guildhall, Worcester
English School, mid 20th century
indistinctly signed verso
oil on canvas
canvas: 20 x 24 inches
provenance: private collection, UK
condition: very good and sound condition
The Worcester Guildhall was originally built as a meeting place for Worcester merchants around 1227. As with many other guildhalls, it became the centre for civic administration, a role it maintained after the merchant guild had disappeared.
The present Worcester Guildhall is a superb Queen Anne building, begun in 1722 by Thomas White, a pupil of Sir Christopher Wren. White was badly paid for his efforts, and he died in poverty in 1738, bestowing the money he was owed on the Worcester Royal Infirmary. The city finally paid its debt in 1753.
The exterior of the Guildhall is brick, dressed with stone. White himself is said to have carved the figure of Queen Anne over the entry, as well as those of Charles I and II, a reminder of the city's long history of royal support. The interior is superb, boasting exceptional period decoration. The Tourist Information Centre is now located in the Guildhall.
HISTORY
In 1227 Henry III granted the citizens of Worcester a royal charter granting them the right to establish a guild of merchants. The guild was responsible for controlling trade in the city, but their meeting place gradually became the main centre of administration for city government and acted as a courthouse. So, in effect, the Guildhall was the town hall, and though the city guilds have long since vanished, the Guildhall name lives on.
The medieval guild merchants would not recognise the building that faces onto High Street now. Their guildhall was a large timber-framed building, occupying the same site, with a piazza for shops fronting the street, courts of justice at each end, and a prison to the north of the building.
Part of the prison was a cell called 'the peephole', which gained a notorious reputation. There was a gaoler's house, and attached to it an alehouse from which the gaoler sold ale at extremely high prices to any prisoner who could afford the cost.
In 1717 the city administration decided on a new Guildhall, and they knew just who to call; upon to build it. Thomas White was not an architect in the way we think of it today, but a stonemason. In 1705 he had carved a statue of Queen Anne to stand in front of the medieval Guildhall and was made a Freeman of the City. The total cost of the fashionable new red-brick building was £3727. The Corporation only put forward £800, and the rest had to be raised by public subscription.
The centre section of the new Guildhall was finished by 1724 and has remained almost unchanged since then. The central facade is a wonderful example of early Georgian style, with three bays flanked by Corinthian pillars.
Over the entrance is a huge carving incorporating the Hanoverian royal arms. White's earlier statue of Queen Anne was placed in a niche over the door, and on either side were statues of Charles I, depicted holding a church, and Charles II, with an orb and royal sceptre. On the rooftop are figures of Labour, Peace, Justice, Plenty, and Chastisement.
North and south wings were added within a few years of the central block. The south wing was used as a judge's lodging when the assizes were taking place, but throughout the rest of the year it housed a coffee shop.
The most striking external feature of the Guildhall is a set of iron gates...
Category
Mid-20th Century Modern Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$1,177 Sale Price
30% Off
H 20 in W 24 in
Oil Painting On Canvas In Blue Tones And Texture. "Night in the Andes"
Located in Bogotá, Bogotá
Horizontal oil painting on canvas, notable for its rich texture and multiple layers that create visual depth. The piece features a fantastical winged creature in earthy tones, standi...
Category
2010s Contemporary Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Cotton Canvas, Oil
$890
H 33.47 in W 64.18 in D 0.4 in
San Miguel, St. Michael, School of Cusco, Peru, Framed early 1900's
Located in Houston, TX
This is painting is from the School of Cusco depicting St. Michael the Archangel defeating the devil in battle. It is oil on canvas and is in very goo...
Category
Early 20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$1,800
H 16 in W 12 in D 0.75 in
Early 20th-Century English School, John Lovibond & Sons, Cannon Brewery, Fulham
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This charming early 20th-century English School oil painting depicts the Cannon Brewery at North End, Fulham, owned by John Lovibond & Sons Ltd.
Founded in 1867, the brewery was bui...
Category
Early 1900s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
Ernst Philip De Fine Licht, Helsingborg Old Town Hall
Located in Cheltenham, GB
This charming Lowry-esque late 19th-century oil painting by Swedish artist Ernst Philip De Fine Licht (1855-1929) depicts the old town hall at Helsingborg, Sweden. De Fine Licht was ...
Category
1870s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$4,904
H 30.5 in W 41.5 in
19th century American Folk Art of a Seated Lady in her Sunday best clothes
Located in Woodbury, CT
Unknown Artist (American School, 19th century)
Portrait of a Lady in Blue, c. 1835–1850
Oil on canvas
This painting is unsigned
This quietly elegant portrait captures a mature woman...
Category
1850s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
'The Family Dinner', Thanksgiving, Christmas, Festive Reunion, Large Naive Oil
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Pauer' for Jacalyn Pauer (American, 20th century) and dated 1991. Additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'The Family Dinner'.
A su...
Category
1990s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,450
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.75 in
African House
Located in Metairie, LA
Clementine Hunter, African House
This is an excellent example of Hunter’s work, featuring the iconic African House. Three figures are present in the work, a boy, a girl, and an elde...
Category
1960s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board, Pencil
Synagogue Interior Jerusalem Modernist Israeli Judaica Oil Painting Rabbi Prayer
By Arieh Allweil
Located in Surfside, FL
ARIEH ALLWEIL (ARIE ALWEIL) 1901-1967
Galicia 1901-1967 Safed, Israel (Ukrainian/Polish/Israeli)
Arieh Allweil, born 1901, Galicia. Immigrated to Palestine in 1920. Studies: 1921-25...
Category
20th Century Modern Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil, Board
$3,200
H 22.5 in W 18.5 in
18th Century French Oil Painting Tavern Scene Interior Merry Making Figures
Located in Cirencester, Gloucestershire
Merry Makers in the Tavern
French School, 18th century
oil on canvas
canvas: 8 x 11 inches
provenance: private collection, France
condition: good and sound condition
Category
18th Century Old Masters Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Oil, Canvas
$974 Sale Price
30% Off
H 8 in W 11 in
Leo Schutzman paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Leo Schutzman paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Leo Schutzman in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Leo Schutzman paintings, so small editions measuring 23 inches across are available. Leo Schutzman paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $10,000, while the average work can sell for $8,750.