Adolphe Féder
| Adolphe Féder | |
|---|---|
 Au bon vin de France, prior to 1939 | |
| Born |
16 July 1886 Odessa, Ukraine |
| Died |
13 December 1943 (aged 57) Auschwitz |
| Nationality | Ukrainian |
| Education | Paris Art School |
| Known for | Painting, illustrating |
| Notable work |
|
| Spouse(s) | Sima Féder |
|
| |
Adolphe Féder (also Azik Féder; July 16, 1886 – December 13, 1943) was a Ukrainian painter and illustrator. He moved to France in 1908 where he remained until his deportation and subsequent murder at the hands of the Nazis. Féder is today most known for his artwork he produced in the Drancy internment camp of those interned with him.[1]
Life
Early life and education
Born to Jewish-Ukrainian merchants parents, in 1905 Féder found himself involved in the revolutionary Bund Labor Movement. His involvement in the organization would force him in to flee to Berlin at the age of 19.[1]
Following his time in Berlin, Féder moved to Geneva before in 1908 moving to Paris to study at the Académie Julian. At the Académie he studied painting and worked closely with the French Impressionist, Henri Matisse in his workshop.[2]
Visit to Palestine
In 1926, Féder made a trip to Palestine. On his trip he encountered many judaic elements which he painted. The trip's impact on him yielded many of his most notable paintings such as "Juif à barbe tenant un plateau, aquarelle."[1] When Féder returned to Paris, he brought back with him many of these paintings which garnered him prestige in the Parisian artistic community.
Internment and death
When Nazi troops marched across France in 1942, Féder, aged 52, tried to get in contact with the French Resistance and was caught by the Pétain militia.[3] For this he was arrested along with his wife on June 10, 1942 and both were imprisoned in Cherche-Midi prison before he was transferred to the Drancy internment camp in September 1942.
In Drancy, Féder continued to paint, painting portraits of those around him such as the other prisoners and guards. His paintings however stopped with his deportation to Auschwitz concentration camp on 13 December 1943[3] where he was murdered. Féder's wife, Sima Féder, donated Féder's works from inside Drancy to the Ghetto Fighters' House.[4]
Career
Féder's success came in 1912 when his landscape works were displayed at the Salon d'Automne.[1] He continued to paint following this including a series of 45 illustrations created for a book of poetry by French poet Arthur Rimbaud. The book received a limited run of 350 copies in 1924, but was commended for its watercolor illustrations.[5]
When Féder's work appeared in the Fearon Galleries in 1923, his work received great praise. An art critic writing on Féder's work said "Adolphe Feder struck me as the most original in his finely austere 'Joueur de Biniou' and more mirthful still life."[6] A monograph on Féder was written in 1929 by Gustave Kahn.[1][3]
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 Rosenberg, Pnina. "Aizik-Adolphe Féder". art.holocaust-education.net. Learning About the Holocaust Through Art. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- ↑ Nieszawer, Nadine. "AIZIK FEDER (ADOLPHE FEDER AKA)". www.ecoledeparis.org (in French). Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- 1 2 3 "Adolphe (Aizik) Feder". Hecht Museum. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- ↑ Caen, Mémorial pour la Paix de. "Les enfants dans la Shoah - Aizik-Adolphe Feder". paril.crdp.ac-caen.fr. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- ↑ "ABAA | Oeuvres de Arthur Rimbaud, in Rene Kieffer binding with 45 original watercolors by Aizik Feder by Rimbaud, Arthur; Feder, Aizik (illus.); Claudel, Paul (pref.); Rene Kieffer (binding) | Search for rare books". www.abaa.org. Retrieved 2016-04-29.
- ↑ "The Art News, Vol. 21, no. 25". The Art News (1923-) 21 (25): 1–10. 1923-01-01.