Isidor Kaufmann ( hu, Kaufman(n) Izidor, he, איזידור קאופמן; 22 March 1853 in Arad – 1921 in Vienna) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

painter of Jewish themes. Having devoted his career to

genre painting Genre painting (or petit genre), a form of genre art, depicts aspects of everyday life by portraying ordinary people engaged in common activities. One common definition of a genre scene is that it shows figures to whom no identity can be attached ...

, he traveled throughout Eastern Europe in search of scenes of Jewish, often

Hasidic Hasidism, sometimes spelled Chassidism, and also known as Hasidic Judaism (Ashkenazi Hebrew: חסידות ''Ḥăsīdus'', ; originally, "piety"), is a Jewish religious group that arose as a spiritual revival movement in the territory of contem ...

life. The artist's life and work was featured by the Jewish Museum Vienna 1995 in a show curated by

Tobias G. Natter Tobias G. Natter (born 26 May 1961 in Dornbirn, Vorarlberg) is an Austrian art historian and internationally renowned art expert with a particular expertise in "Vienna 1900". Career Natter studied art history and history at the universities ...

Life and career

Born to Hungarian Jewish parents in Arad, Kingdom of Hungary (presently in Romania), Kaufmann was originally destined for a commercial career, and could fulfill his wish to become a painter only later in life. In 1875, he went to the '' Landes-Zeichenschule'' in Budapest, where he remained for one year. In 1876, he left for Vienna, but being refused admission to the Academy of Fine Arts there, he became a pupil of the portrait painter

Joseph Matthäus Aigner Joseph Matthäus Aigner (18 January 1818, Vienna19 February 1886, Vienna) was an Austrian portrait painter, who studied under Friedrich von Amerling and Carl Rahl. He painted portraits of Franz Joseph I of Austria and his wife Elizabeth, Franz ...

. He then entered the ''Malerschule'' of the Vienna Academy, and later became a private pupil of Professor Trenkwald. His most noted paintings refer to the life of

Jews in Poland The history of the Jews in Poland dates back at least 1,000 years. For centuries, Poland was home to the largest and most significant Ashkenazi Jewish community in the world. Poland was a principal center of Jewish culture, because of the l ...

. They include: ''Der Besuch des

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as '' semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form o ...

'' (the original of which was owned by Emperor Franz Joseph I, in the

Kunsthistorisches Museum The Kunsthistorisches Museum ( "Museum of Art History", often referred to as the "Museum of Fine Arts") is an art museum in Vienna, Austria. Housed in its festive palatial building on the Vienna Ring Road, it is crowned with an octagonal do ...

), ''Schachspieler'', ''Der Zweifler'' (for which he received the gold medal at the '' Weltausstellung'' of 1873). Kaufmann's other honors include: the Baron

Königswarter Koenigswarter is a surname, derived from the Bohemia Bohemia ( ; cs, Čechy ; ; hsb, Čěska; szl, Czechy) is the westernmost and largest historical region of the Czech Republic. Bohemia can also refer to a wider area consisting of the histo ...

''Künstler-Preis'', the

gold medal A gold medal is a medal awarded for highest achievement in a non-military field. Its name derives from the use of at least a fraction of gold in form of plating or alloying in its manufacture. Since the eighteenth century, gold medals have bee ...

of the Emperor of Germany, a gold medal of the International Exhibition at Munich, and a medal of the third class at the Exposition Universelle in Paris. One of his most prominent students was

Lazar Krestin Lazar Krestin (10 September 1868, Kaunas – 28 February 1938, Vienna) was an artist famous in the German art#20th century, German art world for Judaic genre scenes and his many sober portraits of ashkenazi, Eastern European Jews. He was also a no ...

. He married a cantor's daughter in 1882. They had five children. File:Isidor Kaufmann Portrait of a Yeshiva Boy.jpg, Kaufmann's ''Portrait of a Yeshiva Boy'' File:Isidor Kaufmann - Portrait of a Rabbi.jpg, Portrait of a Rabbi File:Kaufmann Day of Atonement.jpg, '' Day of Atonement'', before 1907

References

* *

(Ed.): ''Rabbiner – Bücher – Talmudschüler. Bilder des Wiener Malers Isidor Kaufmann 1853–1921'', exhibition catalog, Jewish Museum Vienna, 1995 . * *

Alexander Kohut Alexander (Chanoch Yehuda) Kohut (April 22, 1842 – May 25, 1894) was a rabbi and orientalist. He belonged to a family of rabbis, the most noted among them being Rabbi Israel Palota, his great-grandfather, Rabbi Amram (called "The Gaon," who die ...

, ''Berühmte Israelitische Männer und Frauen'' *
Ileana-Rodica Dinculescu, "Teme în pictura unor artişti evrei din Europa Modernă (până la mişcarea de avangardă)" ("Themes in the Art of Jewish Painters in Modern Europe– Before the Avant-Garde Movement")
at the University of Bucharest site
Isidor Kaufmann (1853-1921)
1853 births 1921 deaths People from Arad, Romania Romanian Jews Austro-Hungarian Jews 19th-century Hungarian painters 20th-century Hungarian painters 19th-century Hungarian people 20th-century Hungarian people Jewish painters Hungarian male painters 19th-century Hungarian male artists 20th-century Hungarian male artists {{Jewish-hist-stub