Beautiful.
David Jagger painted this anonymous Jewish lady after the outbreak of WW2. Today, it’s at Nottingham Castle.
1938 was the year of the Anschluss, the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany.
Vienna’s large Jewish population faced immediate & horrific persecution. Homes and businesses were seized, they were subjected to public humiliation and worse.
Many of these Austrian Jews sought refuge at a time when lots of nations were hostile to Jewish refugees from Nazi persecution.
I love the sense of determination and grit in the pose - but a certain sadness too.
Great portrait, thank you.
ReplyDeleteI thought I remembered all of the British portrait painters of Jagger's era, but clearly not. Since he was commissioned in particular to paint the UK's high society, why did his name disappear from universities' art history curricula? Was he out of favour with the modernists?
It's a nice portrait.
ReplyDeleteI wonder what happened to her.
ReplyDeleteAustrian chancellor Kurt Schuschnigg badly mishandled Hitler's attempts to annex Austria. Yes, the Jewish woman looks very determined, A shame we don't know what happened to her.
ReplyDeleteHer steady gaze seems to carry both the weight of her time and the quiet, unyielding strength of a woman who refused to be erased
ReplyDeleteThat's a great painting.
ReplyDeleteIt's a wonderful painting.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Knowing the nightmare to come probably makes the whole painting even more ominous than it was when it debuted.
ReplyDelete