Biographical/Historical Information

Lesser Ury (1861-1931) settled in Berlin in 1887, after many years traveling and studying all over Europe. His initial friendship with Max Liebermann turned into bitter hostility that was to last for the better part of their lives. As a result, Liebermann blocked Ury of becoming a member of the Berlin Secession. This ended in 1911, when Corinth became the Secession’s president. Ury’s work received long overdue national recognition in a retrospective show presented by Paul Cassirer in 1916. Ury was foremost celebrated in his adopted hometown, Berlin and was recognized as one of few German artists who made pastel painting popular in Germany. He died in 1931, almost penniless, and was buried in the honorary section of the Jewish cemetery at Weißensee.

Hermann (Chaim Aaron ben David) Struck was born in 1876 in Germany. He is best known as a master etcher, lithographer and early Zionist. He studied for five years at the Berlin Academy and in 1908 wrote "Die Kunst des Radierens" (The Art of Etching), while mentoring artists such as Marc Chagall, Max Liebermann and Lesser Ury. His art was included in an exhibition at the Fifth Zionist Congress and he helped establish the religious Zionist movement called Mizrachi. Struck was an Orthodox Jew but believed that culture and religion could thrive cooperatively in the Land of Israel. He emigrated to Haifa where he created an artistic community and participated in the development of the Tel Aviv Museum and the Bezalel art school in Jerusalem. Hermann Struck died in 1944.

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Citation

Struck, Hermann: Portrait of Lesser Ury (1861-1931) : Drawing, Leo Baeck Institute, 77.887a.