Isidor Kaufmann

Private collection, New York

Sale: Sotheby's, Tel Aviv, 15 April 1998, lot 254

Acquired at the above by the present owner

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, who also sat for similar portraits of boys against Torah curtains, such as Portrait of a Boy (G. Tobias Natter, Isidor Kaufmann, Vienna, 1995, p. 211). The present portrait, however, is almost identical with another portrait sold in these rooms, March 18, 1997, lot 254. The execution of several identical versions of the same painting was typical for Kaufmann, who was under time constrains to meet the demand of his patrons.