Jews and the Fremden-Blatt.

WERTHEIMER, GUSTAV

1875

Oil on canvas. Signed and dated by the artist lower center.

Of substantial size, this painting depicts two Jewish men, dressed in traditional religious garb, gazing at the viewer seemingly interrupted from their discussion over events reported in the German language newspaper spread before them. The ‘Fremden-Blatt’ was an Austrian daily newspaper published in Vienna from 1847 until 1919. Born in 1847, the Austrian-Jewish artist Gustav Wertheimer studied at the Viennese Academy of Fine Arts with Joseph von Führich and C. Mayer before moving to Munich where he painted under the tutelage of Wilhelm von Diez. In 1882 Wertheimer settled in Paris where his oeuvre included historical and genre paintings. He remained in Paris, painting there until his death in 1902. See Claudia Wöhrer (Ed.) Eine Ausstellung der österreichischen Galerie Belvedere, Vol. IV (2000) p.