LEVY, RUDOLF

LEVY, RUDOLF (1875–1944), German painter. Levy, who was born into an Orthodox Jewish family in Stettin (Pomerania), studied cabinetmaking in Berlin and Karlsruhe, and painting in Munich. In 1903 he went to Paris; he joined the group of artists who met regularly at the Café du Dôme, where the circle of artists, poets, and newsmen campaigned for French art in Germany. In 1907 Levy met Henri Matisse by whom hewas strongly influenced, and in 1908 the idea of the Académie Matisse was realized. Levy also accepted the direction of the Académie for a couple of months until it was finally closed in 1912. Presumably from 1914, Levy was a member of the "Berliner Secession," participating in their exhibitions with his paintings; in 1928 he even became chairman of this society. During World War i, Levy served in the German army and received the Iron Cross. After the war he settled in Berlin but in 1933 left Germany. In 1935 he settled on the Spanish island of Mallorca and joined the circle of political emigrants, among them Arthur Segal. From 1938 he lived in Italy, settling in Florence.

Though forewarned by the German consul and by the Italian police, Levy remained in his atelier and in December 1943 was arrested by the Gestapo. He died in January 1944, presumably during the transportation to the camp in Modena, on the way to the concentration camps in the north. Levy was one of the few German painters of his generation who did not join the expressionist movement, but remained under the influence of Matisse and Cézanne. His work, lyrical in nature, was molded by the Mediterranean atmosphere which inspired some of his finest oils.

bibliography:

W. Haftmann, Painting in the Twentieth Century, 1 (1965²), 79–80, 401–2; 2 (1965²), 295. add. bibliography: G. Fiedler-Bender (ed.), Matisse und seine deutschen Schueler (1988); B. Leismann (ed.), Die grosse Inspiration iii. Deutsche Kuenstler in der Académie Matisse, Exh. cat. Kunst-Museum Ahlen (2005); S. Thesing, Rudolf Levy: Leben und Werk (1990, with catalogue raisonné).

[Alfred Werner /

Jihan Radjai-Ordoubadi (2^nd ed.)]