Anna May-Rychter (1864–1955) was an early 20th century realist

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

best remembered for her watercolors of the

Holy Land The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...

. May-Rychter was born in

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

, Bavaria, in 1864; the daughter of Henry von May, who held an appointment of personal physician for Prince of

Thurn and Taxis The Princely House of Thurn and Taxis (german: link=no, Fürstenhaus Thurn und Taxis ) is a family of German nobility that is part of the ''Briefadel''. It was a key player in the postal services in Europe during the 16th century, until the end ...

. During her childhood,

Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria Karl-Theodor, Duke in Bavaria (9 August 1839 – 30 November 1909), was a member of the House of Wittelsbach and a professional oculist. He was the favorite brother of the Empress Elisabeth of Austria, and father of Queen Elisabeth of the Belgia ...

brought the physician and his family to Munich, where she was educated by Catholic nuns and went on to study at the

Academy of Fine Arts, Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (german: Akademie der Bildenden Künste München, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, ...

. There,

Nikolaos Gyzis Nikolaos Gyzis ( el, Νικόλαος Γύζης ; german: Nikolaus Gysis; 1 March 1842 – 4 January 1901) was considered one of Greece's most important 19th century painters. He was most famous for his work '' Eros and the Painter'', his first ...

was one of her teachers. Known unofficially as May-Rychter (May was Anna's maiden name), she was the long-term partner of Polish artist

Tadeusz Rychter Tadeusz Rychter (c. 1873 in Lviv – 1943 in Warsaw) was a Polish early twentieth-century artist best remembered for his watercolors of the Holy Land.

. The two did not marry because the Catholic Church did not recognize divorce and Tadeusz had been previously wed, to

Cracovian In astronomical and geodetic calculations, Cracovians are a clerical convenience introduced in the 1930s by Tadeusz Banachiewicz for solving systems of linear equations by hand. Such systems can be written as in matrix notation where x and b are ...

artist

Bronisława Janowska Bronisława Janowska or Bronisława Anna Waleria Rychter-Janowska (13 July 1868 – 29 September 1953) was a Polish realist painter and publisher associated with the Kraków-based Young Poland movement. An exceptionally prolific artist, her work i ...

. According to

Haaretz ''Haaretz'' ( , originally ''Ḥadshot Haaretz'' – , ) is an Israeli newspaper. It was founded in 1918, making it the longest running newspaper currently in print in Israel, and is now published in both Hebrew and English in the Berliner f ...

, social disapproval of their out-of-wedlock relationship was the reason why the couple left Europe and settled in Jerusalem. In 1939 Tadeusz traveled to Poland on a work assignment and died in Warsaw during World War II. May-Rychter continued to live in the Arabic-speaking neighborhoods of East Jerusalem until her death in 1955 at the age of 90. In 2014 the Palestinian Heritage Foundation and

The Jerusalem Fund The Jerusalem Fund for Education and Community Development is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Foggy Bottom, Washington, D.C. It focuses on educational and humanitarian work on behalf of Palestinians, particularly those living in the Oc ...

sponsored an exhibition of May-Rychter's watercolors

References

{{authority control Painters of the Holy Land pre-1948 German watercolourists