Jiri Karlinsky

Girl on Village Road, 20th Century
Oil Paint
13.50 x 18 in
$1,000
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A pretty Impressionist painting we acquired when buying a lot of art from Eastern Europe and Ukraine, depicting a girl walking along a country road. The artist, Jiri Karlinsky (it is signed on the front in green, in the grassy area) was born in Prague in 1894 and died there in 1971. He was apparently sent to the Theresienstadt ghetto during WWII, where he painted for the S.S. 

 

We found the following on the website of the World Holocaust Memorial Foundation: 

 

"Valdštýn-Karlínský studied painting under Prof. Ferdinand Engelmüller in Prague, and later continued his studies in France and Italy. He excelled at calligraphy, and specialized in font design and advertisements. In December 1941, Karlínský was deported to the Theresienstadt ghetto, where he was employed in workshops designated to producing ornamental items for the S.S. In May 1945, following the liberation of the ghetto by the Red Army, Valdštýn-Karlínský returned to Prague, where he continued his artistic pursuits. His artworks were on display in numerous group exhibitions. 

 

During his internment in the Theresienstadt ghetto, Karlínský painted landscapes and portraits, in particular those of members of the Ältestenrat. These official portraits were painted in oil, a rare commodity in the ghetto, which he obtained from the workshop where he was employed. He signed his works: "Karlínský", a pen name inspired by his birth place, the Karlín neighborhood of Prague. These oil portraits were apparently painted at the request of the internal Jewish leadership of the ghetto. Following a Red Cross visit in June 1944, most of the members of the Ältestenrat were transported to death camps, thereby making Karlínský's portraits their last documented image." 

 

The dimensions given are with frame. Framed behind glass, as the painting is oil on paperboard and a bit more delicate than if on canvas.