Important Judaica

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Lot 254
  • 254

Isidor Kaufmann 1853-1921

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Description

  • Isidor Kaufmann
  • Portrait of a Yeshiva Boy wearing a Streimel, in front of a Torah ark curtain
  • signed
  • oil on panel
  • 13 3/4 by 10 3/8 in. (35 by 26.5 cm)

Provenance

Sale: Sotheby's, Tel Aviv, Important Judaica, April 24, 1997, lot 27

Catalogue Note

This magnificent portrait of a young boy captures the  simple beauty, innocence and nobility of the sitter.  Sensitive and empathetic, it is beautifully executed with a subtle play of light and shadow as the model gazes at the viewer from a three quarter profile. The streimel and Torah curtain are also masterfully rendered.  As  Natter observed on Kaufmann’s portraits “he tried to grasp [the sitter’s] essence and endow him with a quiet magnificence”. (Natter, G.T., Isidor Kaufmann, Vienna, 1997, p. 35). 

The model for this work is most likely Eduard, the artist’s young son.