Samuel Finkelstein (1895–1942) was a Jewish oil painter in the

interwar Poland The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 1918 and 1939. The state was established on 6 November 1918, before the end of the First World ...

who died at the

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hit ...

death camp Nazi Germany used six extermination camps (german: Vernichtungslager), also called death camps (), or killing centers (), in Central Europe during World War II to systematically murder over 2.7 million peoplemostly Jewsin the Holocaust. The v ...

Treblinka Treblinka () was an extermination camp, built and operated by Nazi Germany in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), occupied Poland during World War II. It was in a forest north-east of Warsaw, south of the Treblinka, Masovian Voivodeship, vi ...

during

the Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

Biography

Finkelstein was born in

Sandomierz Sandomierz (pronounced: ; la, Sandomiria) is a historic town in south-eastern Poland with 23,863 inhabitants (as of 2017), situated on the Vistula River in the Sandomierz Basin. It has been part of Świętokrzyskie Voivodeship (Holy Cross Provi ...

, in the

Radom Governorate Radom Governorate (russian: Радомская Губерния, pl, Gubernia radomska) was a governorate of Congress Poland. History It was created in 1844 from the merger of the Sandomierz Governorate with Kielce Governorate. Its capital was ...

Congress Poland Congress Poland, Congress Kingdom of Poland, or Russian Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It ...

. He first graduated from a trade school, but became dissatisfied with the trades and started painting. His friends and family suggested he take art classes, and in 1913–1914, he enrolled at the

Kraków Academy of Fine Arts The Jan Matejko Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków ( pl, Akademia Sztuk Pięknych im. Jana Matejki w Krakowie, usually abbreviated to ''ASP''), is a public institution of higher education located in the centre of Kraków, Poland. It is the oldest P ...

where he studied under Wojciech Weiss of the

Young Poland Young Poland ( pl, Młoda Polska) was a modernist period in Polish visual arts The visual arts are Art#Forms, genres, media, and styles, art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, vi ...

movement. After World War I, he settled in

Łódź Łódź, also rendered in English as Lodz, is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located approximately south-west of Warsaw. The city's coat of arms is an example of cant ...

, where he exhibited steadily and became active in the arts of the city. Samuel Finkelstein - Still life (1932)

He became a member of the “Start” Painters Association, and the City of Łódź Artists’ Association. He also traveled regularly to various art colony areas and the artists’ village of

Kazimierz Dolny Kazimierz Dolny () is a small historic town in eastern Poland, on the right (eastern) bank of the Vistula river in Puławy County, Lublin Voivodeship. Historically it belongs to Lesser Poland, and in the past it was one of the most important citie ...

. He became active in the

Kraków Kraków (), or Cracow, is the second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city dates back to the seventh century. Kraków was the official capital of Poland until 159 ...

art scene by joining the ''Jednoróg'' Artists Guild – a group of graduates of Kraków Academy – and exhibiting with them. He also participated in the activities of the Jewish community and painted scenes of daily life. He was included in “The World Evoked” exhibition of Jewish culture organized by the Nowy Sącz District Museum. Although he was affiliated in his own city with the Constructivist Avant Garde and was friendly with such artists as

Władysław Strzemiński Władysław Strzemiński (21 November 1893 – 26 December 1952) was a Polish avant-garde painter of international renown. Life and work Strzemiński was born in Minsk to an ethnic Polish family. In 1914, he graduated from the Military School of ...

, Kataryna Kobro and Karol Hiller, his paintings bore the impressionist traditional style in their motifs, colors and his brush-work. When Finkelstein traveled to

, he painted the Jewish life outdoors as he saw it.

Chaim Goldberg Chaim Goldberg (March 20, 1917 – June 26, 2004) was a Polish-American artist, painter, sculptor, and engraver. He is known for being a chronicler of Jewish life in the eastern European Polish villages (or '' shtetlekh'') like the one in his ...

, an artist born in Kazimierz, recalled the artist as he stood by himself in a field painting. Samuel Finkelstein died in 1942 during the

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; ...

, a Nazi extermination camp.ArtFacts Net, Samuel Finkelstein listing
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References

External links

Towarzystwo Przyjaciół Sztuk Pięknych w Krakowie (Art in Crakow) listing, 1932-34

''Jewish painters in the art colony of Kazimierz Dolny'' by Dr. Waldemar Odorowski (Author and Editor), published by Muzeum Nadwislanskie, Kazimierz Dolny, Poland 2008

ArtNet gallery sale

AskArt listing

* Finkelstein's works i
Central Jewish Library
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finkelstein, Samuel 1895 births 1942 deaths People from Sandomierz People from Radom Governorate Polish Jews who died in the Holocaust 20th-century Polish painters 20th-century Polish male artists Jewish painters Polish people who died in Treblinka extermination camp Polish male painters