Portrait artist Asher (né Ascher) Susser was born into a Jewish family in Narol, Galicia, then part of the Austrian-Hungarian empire (now in Poland) on 10 December 1899. In his early years, his family moved to Vienna, where he embarked upon his artistic career. He Anglicised his first name to Asher after immigrating to England in 1938, one of the many so-called 'Hitler émigrés', who sought refuge in Britain from racial, religious, and cultural persecution in their native lands. Following the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, he was swept up during the mass internment of German-speaking refugees in 1940 and interned at Huyton Camp, near Liverpool, where he drew a portrait of fellow German-Jewish internee and pioneering silent film producer David (originally Olivenbaum) Oliver, who had established the UFA studios, produced 'The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari', been exiled in Spain and later collaborated with Alexander Korda).
After release Susser continued to execute portraits with great precision and attention to detail including his brother, Schimschon, and his father, Arje Yehuda. His charcoal portrait of his other brother, Isaac, an Orthodox Jew, was probably first exhibited at Ben Uri Gallery as 'Study of a Young Jew' in an exhibition of Subjects of Jewish Interest (1946-47), then as ‘The Artist’s Brother’ in Spring 1947, and subsequently entered the collection. In 1948 Susser was listed as a portrait artist living in Wolverhampton, where he became a longstanding member of the Wolverhampton Society of Artists (appointed honorary life President at the age of 90). He also worked as a professional photographer, specialising in portraits of eminent civic surgeons (displayed in the Royal Hospital), until his retirement. He was an elder statesman of Wolverhampton Hebrew Congregation and a founding member of the Wolverhampton B'nai B'rith Lodge. Asher Susser died in Wolverhampton, England on 1 January 1995. In the UK his work is held in the Ben Uri Collection and two of his portrait photographs are held by the National Trust Collection.
