Lesser ury biography of michael

Impressionist painter and printmaker Lesser Ury (né Leo Lesser Ury) was born into a Jewish family in Birnbaum, then in the Prussian province of Posen (now Kreis Birnbaum, Poland), on 7 November 1861; his father, a baker, died during his childhood and the family relocated to Berlin. Ury was initially apprenticed to a merchant before leaving to study painting at the Kunstakademie in Düsseldorf, and then in a succession of European cities: Brussels, Paris, Stuttgart and Munich. In Paris, he developed a fascination with the modern metropolis and nocturnal urban life, the subject matter for which he is most celebrated. He settled in Berlin in 1887, holding his first exhibition there in 1889. Despite a hostile reception, Ury was championed by the artists Adolph von Menzel and Max Liebermann, and was subsequently awarded the Michael Beer prize by the Berlin Academy, which enabled him to visit Italy. In 1893 he joined the progressive group of Munich Secession artists, before returning to Berlin in 1901. He subsequently exhibited with the Berlin Secession in 1915 and 1922, when, during a major exhibition of 150 of his paintings, he was honoured as ‘the artistic glorifier of the capital’ by the mayor of Berlin. His rising reputation was marked in 1920 by the publication of a book by Karl Schwarz, part of the series ‘Jüdische Bücherei’. Ury painted in oil and pastel – excelling in the latter medium - and produced landscapes, cityscapes – often in the rain and at twilight - and interiors, painted in an Impressionist manner.

Lesser Ury died in Berlin, Germany on 18 October 1931. He is represented in international collections abroad including the Alte Nationalgalerie, Berlin, Germany and Galerie Ludorff, Düsseldorf, Germany; the Hecht Museum, University of Haifa, Israel; and the Ben Uri Collection in the UK.

1861

Was born November 7, 1861 in Birnbaum, near the Prussian province of Posen

1873

Family move to Berlin

1879

Enrollment at the Academy of Arts in Dusseldorf

1880

Stays abroad in Brussels, Paris and Antwerp

1882

Joined the “Académie Royale des Beaux-Arts Bruxelles”

1887

Return to Berlin

1890

„Michael-Beer Prize “

1892

Rift with Max Liebermann

1893

Journeys to Italy. Great solo exhibition at Fritz Gurlitt’s

1896

First monumental painting “Jerusalem” was created

1902

Great exhibition at the Viennese Art Salon

1910

Was granted a Hall of Honor at the Berlin-Lehrte railway during the Great Berlin Art Exhibition

1915

First exhibition with the Berlin Secession

1921

The Berlin Secession appointed Ury as honorary member

1927

Exhibition of drawings by Ury at the National Gallery in Berlin

1931

Lesser Ury died of cardiac failure October 8, 1931

List of Artists →Lesser Ury

Landscape and figure painter, distinguished in depicting Berlin urban life in a colourful impressionism. U. studied at the Düsseldorf academy under J. J. H. Müller and in Brussels under J. F. Portaels, who recommended him to L. Bonnat. He went to Paris to continue his studies under J. Lefèbvre. In 1887 he settled in Berlin where he established connections with W. Uhde and M. Liebermann. The Michael Beer prize awarded him in 1890 allowed him to go to Italy. U. had numerous exhibitions, among others at the Berlin secession in 1922 and in the Berlin National Gallery in 1931. Mus.: Berlin (Nat. Gall.), Görlitz, Graz. Lit.: Thieme-Becker, Bénézit, D. Rosenbach: L. U., das druckgraphische Werk, 2002.

From past auctions

(Leo) Lesser Ury was a German impressionist painter who followed his own style and is perhaps most well known for his skills with pastels – some consider Ury one of the most important pastellists of the 19th Century.

Born in 1861 in Birnbaum, Poznan (Prussia), Ury was the third son in a struggling merchant family. His father, a baker, died in 1872. The family moved to Berlin , their financial situation turned desperate and Ury ran away from home. He became an apprentice to a clothing merchant but only remained there long enough to save the money to study art. (Historical accounts disagree as to whether Ury was only 12 or 17 years old when he accepted the apprenticeship.)

Ury traveled throughout Europe for a number of years perfecting his skills as an artist. He was in Brussels and Antwerp in 1880. He spent time in Paris painting floral still lifes, city scenes and interiors during 1881. The Academie Royal des Baues-Artes in Brussels was where he stopped in 1882 and in 1883 he was in Paris. Stops in Berlin, Stuttgard and Karlsruhe followed in 1885.

Ury returned to Berlin to stay in 1887. Fritz Gurlitt hosted Ury’s first show in 1889. His work was met with much criticism but Adolphe von Menzel convinced the Akademie to award Ury the Michael-Beer-Preis. The award funded further travels to Rome and Capri.

The artist returned to Berlin in 1893 when 67 of his paintings were featured in a one man show. That same year he joined the Munich Secession and began working for the journal “Das Narrenschiff” (Ship of Fools).

1901 saw Ury returning to Berlin and meeting Meta Streiter. Streiter would become his model and muse. He had his first exhibition at the Berlin Seccession in 1915 and six years later became an honorary member of that group. In 1922, a great exhibition was held in honor of the artist’s 60th birthday and featured 150 of his works. He died in 1931, missing an exhibition in honor of his 70th birthday at the National Gallery in Breslau in