Julia Acker (1898–1942) was a Jewish–Polish figurative artist. Since many records from the

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 opposin ...

period and the German occupation of Poland are missing, the year of her birth in

Lemberg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in Western Ukraine, western Ukraine, and the List of cities in Ukraine, seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is o ...

and death in the Lviv Ghetto are listed in the "Exhibition Catalogue from the Collections of the Lviv Art Gallery, Lviv Museum of History," section relating to "Biographies of Artists."

Biography

Acker spent her entire life and career in

Lviv Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

and surrounding communities. She was born when Poland was still part of the

Austrian-Hungarian Empire 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 1 ...

and Lemberg was in the Empire's Eastern Province of Galicia. She "studied painting at the Free Arts Academy of Leonard Podhorodecki and took private lessons at Pawel Gajewski in Lviv,"''Images of a Vanished World, The Jews of Eastern Galicia (from the mid-19th century to the first third of the 20th century)'', Exhibition Catalogue from the collections of the Lviv Art Gallery, Lviv Museum of History, Museum of Ethnohttp://artyzm.com/e_obraz.php?id=8961graphy and Crafts, Museum of Religious History, private collections. Centre of Europe Publishing House, Lviv 2003.Page 93 "Acker, Julia, painter and drawer." Duke University Library System in the new independent Poland after

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 ...

. She continued her painting studies "at Pawel Gajewski in Lviv...and painted genre compositions as well as scenes from Jewish community life and also children's portraits,

still life A still life (plural: still lifes) is a work of art depicting mostly wikt:inanimate, inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which are either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, shells, etc.) or artificiality, m ...

s and flowers." Due to the constant threat on her life, Acker committed suicide in 1942 at the beginning of the German

occupation Occupation commonly refers to: *Occupation (human activity), or job, one's role in society, often a regular activity performed for payment *Occupation (protest), political demonstration by holding public or symbolic spaces *Military occupation, th ...

of Lviv and was interred in the Lviv Cemetery with cemetery data from 1941–1942 listing her "interment of 07 May 1942," and a last address of "Zolkierska 35 (Zolkiewska)," the same address, also, of Dr. Izrael Acker, listed in the 1938 Lwow telephone directory. Dr. Acker's medical practice is listed in the same directory as "Zamarstynowska Street 34". The Polish National Museum of Art in

Warsaw Warsaw ( pl, Warszawa, ), officially the Capital City of Warsaw,, abbreviation: ''m.st. Warszawa'' is the capital and largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the River Vistula in east-central Poland, and its population is officia ...

owns one of her paintings, titled, ''Procession of Figures.'' DESA auction house on 16 October 2004 offered ''Martwa Natura Z. Nasturciami'' oil on cardboard by Julia Acker that was painted in 1940. The Agra Art Auction House in Poland in 2010 offered "Colours of Flowers" for sale from a private collection. In the collection of the Lviv Museum of History is the ''Portrait of Philip Schleicher'' Vice President of Lviv (1870–1932), by Julia Acker that was "received in 1941."''Images of a Vanished World'' Ibid, page 77 with illustration

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Acker, Julia Polish artists Polish women painters Painters who committed suicide 1898 births 1942 deaths 1942 suicides People from the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria Austro-Hungarian Jews Jews from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Suicides in Ukraine Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust Suicides by Jews during the Holocaust People who died in the Lwów Ghetto