Epstein’s central theme was eastern-European Jewish life: figures from the ghetto, biblical scenes, landscapes and portraits. Born into a poor family in Slonsk, Minsk, in the Russian Pale of Settlement, he received a thorough Jewish education. After drawing lessons in Vilnius, he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts, Vienna. During the First World War he was an official Austrian war artist, and in 1923 was appointed Professor at the Vienna Academy. This sensitive portrait of an unknown sitter, dating from this period, was initially offered at auction with unknown provenance; it was then withdrawn to enable its acquisition by Ben Uri.