Isidor Kaufman

Isidor Kaufmann (March 22, 1853-1921) was an Austro-Hungarian painter of Jewish themes. Having devoted his career to genre painting, he traveled throughout Eastern Europe in search of scenes of Jewish, often Hasidic life.

Born to Hungarian Jewish parents in Arad, Kingdom of Hungary (presently in Romania), Kaufman 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 Aigner. 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. They include: "Der Besuch des Rabbi" (the original of which was owned by Emperor Franz Joseph I, in the Kunsthistorisches Museum), "Schachspieler", "Der Zweifler" (for which he received the gold medal at the "Weltausstellung" of 1873).

Kaufmann's other honors include: the Baron Königswarter "Künstler-Preis", the gold medal 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.

References

*JewishEncyclopedia [http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/view.jsp?artid=142&letter=K Article by Isidore Singer and Laura Landau] , which in turn cites as reference:
**Alexander Kohut, "Berühmte Israelitische Männer und Frauen"
*ro icon [http://www.unibuc.ro/eBooks/filologie/hebra/2-14.htm 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