Isaac Lichtenstein was born into a Jewish family in Łódź, Poland in 1889 and studied art at the Academy in Krakow. At the turn of the 20th century, he went to Paris, where he was among the loose group of émigré artists, living and working together at the collection of La Ruche (The Beehive) studios in Montparnasse and known as the École de Paris or School of Paris. Shortly after the outbreak of the First World War, Lichtenstein arrived in London together with Lazar Berson, who in 1915 founded Ben Uri, with Lichtenstein as a founder member. He is thought to have lived in America for much of the war, volunteering in 1918 to join the Jewish Legion and serving in Palestine. In 1920 Lichtenstein was briefly in London, where he was again in contact with Ben Uri and giving a talk to the Society in the same year. In 1927 his work was included in the important exhibition of Jewish art and antiquities at the Whitechapel Art Gallery. After the war, Lichtenstein moved between London, Poland, Paris, and America, where he spent most of his life, reviving the Machmadim Publishing House devoted to the production of artistic Yiddish books.
RELATED ORGAN|SATIONS
- Machmadim (co-founder)
- Ben Uri Arts Society (founding member)
- Machmadim Publishing House (founder)
SELECTED EXHIBITIONS
- Art Out of the Bloodlands: A Century of Polish Artists in Britain, Ben Uri Gallery (2017)
- Chaim Soutine and his Contemporaries – from Russia to Paris, Ben Uri Gallery (2012)
- Jewish Artists: The Ben Uri Collection, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1994)
- Ben Uri Highlights: Key Works and Figures 1915–1990, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1990)
- Shtetl Scenes: A Selection from the Society's Permanent Collection Together with New Acquisitions, Ben Uri Art Society, London (1990)
- Isaac Lichtenstein, Paintings and Drawings of Israel, Stephen Wise Congress House, New York (1989)
- Group Exhibition, Shalom Alechem House, Tel Aviv (1972)
- Isaac Lichtenstein, Beit Uri and Rami Nehushtan Museum, Kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov Meuhad (1970)
- Paintings from the Ben Uri Art Gallery, Russel-Cotes Art Gallery and Museum, Bournemouth (1970)
- Isaac Lichtenstein, Beit Uri and Rami Nehushtan Museum, Kibbutz Ashdot Yaakov Meuhad (1965)
- Retrospective Exhibition by Isaac Lichtenstein in Honour of His 75th Birthday, Congress of Jewish Culture, New York (1963)
- Oils by Isaac Lichtenstein, Jewish Museum, New York (1949)
- Exhibition of Jewish Art, arranged by the Ben Uri Art Gallery, North Western Reform Synagogue, London (1948)
- Subjects of Jewish Interest: Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings, Ben Uri Art Society, Portman Street, London (1946)
- Opening of the Ben Uri Jewish Art Gallery and an Exhibition of Works by Jewish Artists, Woburn House, London (1934)
- Paintings and Drypoint Etchings, Ben Uri Jewish Art and Literary Society, 63 Mansell Street, London (1931)
- Paintings and Drawings by Isaac Lichtenstein, 1920–1931, Parsons Galleries, Oxford Street, London (1931)
- Exhibition of Jewish Art and Antiquities, Whitechapel Art Gallery (1927)
- Official Opening of the Ben-Uri Gallery and Club, Great Russell Street, London (1925)
- Pictures by Isaac Lichtenstein, 33 Blackfriars Street, Manchester (1924)
