Rudolf Levy received the Iron Cross in 1915 after serving as a soldier for the German army in Artois and Flanders. A participant in the early twentieth-century Expressionist movement, he balanced a career that spanned formal art training in Germany and France with a life of displacement caused by political upheaval.
Early Development and Training
Born in 1875 in Szczecin, Levy grew up in Danzig within an Orthodox Jewish household. Despite parental opposition to an artistic career, he began an apprenticeship as a carpenter before enrolling at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe in 1895. His education continued in Munich under Nikolaus Gysis at the Academy of Fine Arts and later through private instruction from Heinrich Knirr and Heinrich von Zügel. During this period, he joined the Sturmfackel cultural association.
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In 1903, Levy moved to Paris, where he founded a circle of German-speaking artists centered at Le Dôme Café. He showcased his work at the third Salon d'Automne exhibition at the Grand Palais. By 1907, he was working within the teaching studios of Henri Matisse. His professional activity expanded to include frequent trips to Tunisia and the south of France between 1910 and 1913. Returning to Germany after the war, he married the photographer and actress Eugenie Schindler, known professionally as Genia Morelli, and eventually settled in Berlin.
Exile and Death
Levy served as an agent for Alfred Flechtheim in Paris from 1924 to 1926 and later sat on the board of the Berlin Secession. As persecution of Jewish citizens increased, he fled to Rapallo, Italy, to reside with Bob Gesinus-Visser. His travels continued to Mallorca, New York, Dubrovnik, and finally Ischia. In 1937, Nazi authorities designated his paintings as degenerate art. Following his forced departure from Ischia, he found refuge in Florence until 1943. After being captured by SS agents who posed as art buyers, he was imprisoned at Le Murate and subsequently sent to an extermination camp, where he died in 1944.
Fast facts
- Born: 1875, Szczecin
- Died: 1944, Italy or Auschwitz
- Movement: Expressionism
- Citizenship: German Reich
- Notable Membership: Berlin Secession
- Education: Académie Matisse, Academy of Fine Arts Karlsruhe
- Military Service: Iron Cross recipient, 1915
Questions readers ask
Where did Rudolf Levy receive his art education?
He trained at the Academy of Fine Arts in Karlsruhe, the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich, and the Académie Matisse.
What happened to his art during the Nazi regime?
In 1937, his work was officially placed on the Nazi list of Degenerate Art.
Achievements
- Movement: Expressionism
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