Leo Schutzman Paintings
American, Russian, 1878-1962
Leo (Kyle) Schutzman (1878?-1962) developed a reputation in New York in
the 1950s as the ‘Jewish Grandma Moses.’ The characterization was particularly
appropriate. Both artists only took up painting in a serious way in their old age
after retiring from work. They also shared a popular aesthetic style then known as
‘primitivism’ or ‘naive art,’ far from the abstract expressionism that was the art
critic’s darling at the time.
Schutzman was born Leo Kyle in Russia around 1878. His father died when
he was 3 years old and he immigrated to England in his teens, where he remained
for 9 years. When he moved to the United States in 1905, he took the name
Schutzman after a German family who was renting to his nephew, Louis Kyle.
In New York City, Schutzman worked in the Jewish-dominated clothing
industry, producing underwear as well as lace and embroidery. He founded the
Victory Undergarment Company and the business was successful enough to
provide for his family until he retired at about age 74.
After retirement, Schutzman took art courses at the Brooklyn Museum and
began painting. He often depicted scenes of Jewish religious life that he
remembered from childhood in Russia. His work seemed the very definition of
‘naive art’ as it was personified by Grandma Moses in the 1950s. His clumsy
human figures sometimes had no features at all, or were portrayed with just a slash
for the mouth and two dots for the eyes. He had only the vaguest sense of
perspective and often used dissonant colors in unusual places.
Schutzman had his first one-man show in 1958, when he was 80 years old, at
The Contemporaries gallery (992 Madison Ave.). His optimistic primitivism was
popular in the United States in the 1950s as was his backstory; an immigrant who
had succeeded as an entrepreneur in the capitalist system before affirming the
democratic individualist creed that everyone had talents and could accomplish
something at any age. He was soon socializing at parties with people like
heiress/artist Gloria Vanderbilt. One of his ‘non-Jewish’ works depicting a winter
carnival was chosen in 1962 for the United Nations Children’s Fund Christmas
Card Collection.
When Grandma Moses died in 1961, naive art began to lose popularity
Schutzman was living in Glendale Queens when he died at age 83 in 1962 and his
reputation soon disappeared. In 1986, two of his paintings were acquired by the
Jewish Museum in New York City. One of them, “The Wedding,” (c. 1960) was an
iconic portrait of an Ashkenazic wedding. It has been reproduced by the Jewish
Museum on popular stationery, and has appeared in popular books such as The
Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism.to
1
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
2
2
2
2
1
1
1
1
1
2
2
2
2
2
781
713
712
689
2
2
Artist: Leo Schutzman
"The Marriage Proposal (Family Gathering), " Leo Schutzman, Jewish Folk Art
By Leo Schutzman
Located in New York, NY
Leo Schutzman (1878 - 1962)
The Marriage Proposal, circa 1958
Oil on canvas
24 x 20 inches
Signed lower left
Leo (Kyle) Schutzman (1878-1962) developed ...
Category
1950s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"Simchat Torah in the Synagogue, " Leo Schutzman, Jewish Folk Art
By Leo Schutzman
Located in New York, NY
Leo Schutzman (1878 - 1962)
Simchat Torah in the Synagogue, circa 1958
Oil on canvas
40 x 36 inches
Signed lower left
Provenance:
The Contemporaries Gal...
Category
1950s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
Related Items
The Family Dinner
, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Festive Reunion, Large Naive Oil
Located in Santa Cruz, CA
Signed lower right, 'Pauer' for Jacalyn Pauer (American, 20th century) and dated 1991. Additionally signed, verso, and titled, 'The Family Dinner'.
A substantial, American oil paint...
Category
1990s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Acrylic
$1,150
H 30 in W 20 in D 0.75 in
The window (La ventana) Folk Art. Green, blue, yellow, orange interior scene
By Raquel Fariñas
Located in Segovia, ES
The window (La ventana) . Folk Art, Acrylic on wood panel painting by Spanish author Raquel Fariñas.
Dimensions in centimetres (H) 177,3 x (W) 95 x (D) 4
In inches: (H) 69.7 x (W)...
Category
2010s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Acrylic, Wood Panel
$4,079 Sale Price
58% Off
H 69.81 in W 37.41 in D 1.19 in
Whimsical Naive Mediterranean Seaside Interior Folk Art Oil Painting Fanch Ledan
By Fanch (Francois Ledan)
Located in Surfside, FL
Francois "Fanch" Ledan (Born 1949) French American artist
Oil on Canvas.
Hand signed and dated
2002
Dimensions: overall Size: 25 1/4 x 25 1/4 in. Sight Size: 15 1/2 x 15 1/2 in.
D...
Category
20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$3,200
H 25.25 in W 25.25 in
Large scale 19th Century historical genre oil painting of a group of musicians
By Robert Alexander Hillingford
Located in Nr Broadway, Worcestershire
Robert Alexander Hillingford
British, (1828-1904)
The Duke’s Musicians – A Reminiscence of Hardwick Hall, Derbyshire
Oil on canvas, signed
Image size: 40 inches x 59 inches
Size including frame: 47.5 inches x 66.5 inches
Exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1883, no. 844
Exhibited at the Yorkshire Institute
A large-scale Royal Academy painting...
Category
19th Century Victorian Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$37,999
H 47.5 in W 66.5 in D 3 in
!9th century English Pub interior , with Huntsmen and figures drinking
Located in Woodbury, CT
After the painting by John Lomax,who was an English genre painter
The scene is great fun, as we can see different groups all enjoying the Classic English Pub interior...
Category
1890s Victorian Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$3,217 Sale Price
35% Off
H 24 in W 32 in
“Boy with Blue Birds”
By Agapito Labios
Located in Southampton, NY
Original oil on canvas folk art painting by the well known Mexican artist, Agapito Labios. Signed lower right. Circa 1935. Condition is very good. ...
Category
1930s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
"The Barber of Seville", Early 20th Century Oil on Canvas by José Villegas
Located in Madrid, ES
JOSÉ VILLEGAS CORDERO
Spanish, 1844 - 1921
THE BARBER OF SEVILLE
signed & dated "J. Villegas. / Junio 1913." (lower left)
oil on canvas
19-3/8 x 28-3/4 inches (49 x 73 cm.)
framed: 27-1/2 x 36-3/4 inches (69.5 x 93 cm.)
PROVENANCE
Private Collector, Seville, Spain
José Villegas Cordero (Seville, August 26, 1844-Madrid, November 9, 1921) was a Spanish painter. He directed the Prado Museum between 1901 and 1918.
He was the brother of the painter Ricardo Villegas Cordero. He began his apprenticeship very young with José María Romero, with whom he remained for two years until entering the School of Fine Arts in Seville, where he was under the tutelage of Eduardo Cano.
In 1860, when he was only 16 years old, he sold his work Little Philosophy for 2,000 reais at the Seville Exhibition. In 1867 he traveled to Madrid, where he entered Federico Madrazo's studio. There he established friendship with painters Eduardo Rosales and Fortuny.
He went regularly to the Prado where he copied Velázquez, from whom he acquired spontaneity and the use of color for his technique.
Finally, and out of admiration for Fortuny's orientalist painting, he returned to Seville and organized an excursion to Morocco.
At the end of 1868 he decided to travel to Rome accompanied by the painters Rafael Peralta and Luis Jiménez Aranda...
Category
1910s Realist Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$9,503
H 19.3 in W 28.75 in
Rare Israeli Naive Art Oil Painting Jerusalem Israel Old City Landscape Folk Art
Located in Surfside, FL
JERUSALEM, Vielle du David, (City of David)
Oil painting on canvas
Hand signed in Hebrew (Perlman, Pearlman or Perelman. There are numerous artists with this name. we are unsure wh...
Category
20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$950
H 22.5 in W 30.25 in
Ex Voto Retablo – Early 20th C. Holy Tribute for Healing
Return to Good Health
Located in Denver, CO
Ex Voto; Holy Tribute for the Return to Good Health. Oil on tin with ink, May 31, 1922 with a contemporary custom frame hand-carved by artisan Michael Blatnik. Ex-Voto is 7 ½ x 11 i...
Category
1920s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Metal
$1,875 Sale Price
25% Off
H 15 in W 18 in D 0.75 in
Alabama Surreal Folk Art Oil Painting African American Woman, Flower Headdress
By Maltby Sykes
Located in Surfside, FL
The painting is signed Sykes and dated 1960 lower right.
It has "Maltby Sykes, 1911- for Leon" written on the stretcher verso
It is a Surrealist Folk Art figure of an African woman oil painting...
Category
1960s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$2,800
H 31 in W 24.5 in
Mexican Ex-Voto “Holy Tribute for Saving a Brother” c.1925 Oil on Tin Folk Art
Located in Denver, CO
This rare circa 1925 Ex-Voto, “Holy Tribute for Saving a Brother,” is an original oil and ink on tin by an anonymous Mexican artist, presented in a contemporary hand-carved frame by ...
Category
1920s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Metal
$1,950 Sale Price
25% Off
H 20.25 in W 15.75 in D 0.75 in
"Audience" Mid 20th Century American Figurative Theatre Performance Contemporary
By Leon Bibel
Located in New York, NY
"Audience" Mid 20th Century American Figurative Theatre Performance Contemporary
Leon Bibel (1912 - 1995) "The Audience," 52 ½ x 41 ¼ inches. Oil on canvas, c. 1963. Signed lower right. Framed.
BIO
Painter, printmaker and sculptor, Leon Bibel was born in San Francisco in 1913. He trained at the California School of Fine Arts and received a scholarship to study under the German Impressionist Maria Riedelstein. He worked in collaboration with Bernard Zackheim, a student of Diego Rivera, to create frescoes for the San Francisco Jewish Community Center and the University of California Medical School.
In 1936 Bibel moved from California to join the Federal Art Project at Harlem Art...
Category
1960s American Modern Leo Schutzman Paintings
Materials
Canvas, Oil
$24,500
H 54 in W 44 in D 2 in
Leo Schutzman paintings for sale on 1stDibs.
Find a wide variety of authentic Leo Schutzman paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Leo Schutzman in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Leo Schutzman paintings, so small editions measuring 23 inches across are available. Leo Schutzman paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $10,000, while the average work can sell for $8,750.