Amy Julia Drucker (1873 – November 1951) was a British artist and educator of

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...

ish descent.

Biography

The daughter of a wine merchant and his wife from Germany, Drucker was born in London and grew up in Hampstead. She was educated at South Hampstead High School and studied art at

St John's Wood Art School The St John's Wood Art School ( The Wood or Calderon's Art School) was an art school in St John's Wood, north London, England. The Art School was established in 1878 and was located on Elm Tree Road. It was founded by two art teachers, Elíseo Ab ...

and the

Lambeth School of Art Founded in 1854 as the Lambeth School of Art, the City and Guilds of London Art School is a small specialist art college located in central London, England. Originally founded as a government art school, it is now an independent, not-for-profit ...

, both in London, and at the Académie Colarossi in Paris. She had a studio in Bloomsbury. Besides paintings, watercolours and pastels, she also produced lithographs,

miniature A miniature is a small-scale reproduction, or a small version. It may refer to: * Portrait miniature, a miniature portrait painting * Miniature art, miniature painting, engraving and sculpture * Miniature (chess), a masterful chess game or probl ...

woodcut Woodcut is a relief printing technique in printmaking. An artist carves an image into the surface of a block of wood—typically with gouges—leaving the printing parts level with the surface while removing the non-printing parts. Areas tha ...

prints, drawings and etchings. She exhibited her work regularly from 1888 to 1949 at various venues in England, including at the Royal Academy in London. She also exhibited at the Paris Salon and had solo shows in Buenos Aires, Lima, Panama, Jerusalem, Beijing and Shanghai. Drucker travelled extensively, spending time in the Europe, the Far East, South America, Palestine and

Abyssinia The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...

, where was commissioned to paint a portrait of

Haile Selassie Haile Selassie I ( gez, ቀዳማዊ ኀይለ ሥላሴ, Qädamawi Häylä Səllasé, ; born Tafari Makonnen; 23 July 189227 August 1975) was Emperor of Ethiopia from 1930 to 1974. He rose to power as Regent Plenipotentiary of Ethiopia (' ...

. She made extensive drawings of the people and cultures she encountered on her travels and taught painting and printing in Calcutta, at the Jerusalem School of Art and gave private art lessions in London. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Drucker served in the

Women's Land Army The Women's Land Army (WLA) was a British civilian organisation created in 1917 by the Board of Agriculture during the First World War to bring women into work in agriculture, replacing men called up to the military. Women who worked for the W ...

. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, she worked in a factory and as a night watchman. After her death, two portfolios of her work were presented at the Royal Anthropological Institute. In 1952, an exhibit of her work was shown at the

Ben Uri Gallery The Ben Uri Gallery & Museum is a registered museum and charity based at 108a Boundary Road, off Abbey Road in St John's Wood, London, England. It features the work and lives of émigré artists in London, and describes itself as "The Art Museum ...

and a prize was awarded in two consecutive years in her name to a promising young Jewish artist. The Ben Uri Gallery holds several works by Drucker. Some of her better-known paintings include: * ''The Aliens'' * ''Wentworth Street at Night'' * ''Arab Water Carriers'' * ''For He had Great Possessions''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Drucker, Amy 1873 births 1951 deaths 20th-century English painters 20th-century English women artists Académie Colarossi alumni Alumni of St John's Wood Art School Alumni of the Lambeth School of Art English people of German-Jewish descent English women painters Jewish women artists Painters from London People from Hampstead Women's Land Army members (World War I) 20th-century women painters