Ben Uri Research Unit

for the study and digital recording of the Jewish, Refugee and wide Immigrant contribution to British visual culture since 1900.


John Henry Amshewitz artist

John Henry Amshewitz was born into a Jewish family in Ramsgate, England in 1882 (his father had emigrated from the Russian Empire 16 years prior). After studying at the Royal Academy Schools in London (1902–07) and spending time in South Africa, Amshewitz participated widely in the UK's art world as a painter, muralist and illustrator, and was an exhibiting member of many art contemporary societies, with close ties to a number of Jewish artists and writers.

Born: 1882 Ramsgate, England

Died: 1942 Muizenberg, Cape Town, Union of South Africa (now South Africa)

Year of Migration to the UK: 1867

Other name/s: J. H. Amshewitz


Biography

Artist John Henry Amshewitz was born into a Jewish family in Ramsgate, England, on 19 December 1882. His father, Asher Amschejewitz, an Orthodox rabbi and scholar born in Vilna, Russian Empire (now Vilnius, Lithuania), had come to Montefiore College in Ramsgate in 1867 as a scholar in residence. Amshewitz won an art scholarship to study at the Royal Academy Schools in London from 1902–07 under John Singer Sargent, Sir George Clausen and Solomon J. Solomon (one of the few Jewish Royal Academicians). While still a student he secured several important civic commissions, most notably four murals for the 700th-anniversary memorial at Liverpool City Hall in 1907; his designs had taken both first and second place in the open competition (Liverpool Daily Post, 1951). This was followed by a large mural for the Royal Exchange in London in 1910 and a commission from the Medici Society to produce ten watercolours illustrating the Medieval morality play Everyman in 1911. His friendship with ‘Whitechapel Boy’ Isaac Rosenberg led to a portrait of the young Anglo-Jewish poet-painter in 1909 (Dickson and MacDougall, 2008), and he illustrated works by the Jewish writer, Israel Zangwill, including Ghetto Comedies (1907). In 1914 he was elected a member of the Royal Society of British Artists (RBA), and the same year illustrated a cartoon map of the conflict in Europe for Geographia, who later published a Haggadah (1920) with his illustrations.

In 1916, after being rejected for military service owing to an injury sustained while working on the Liverpool murals, he travelled to South Africa for a six-month tour of thhe play, Potash and Perlmutter, remaining for six years. His first exhibition followed that year, alongside portraits and genre scenes, including mining subjects such as The Fortune-Hunter and The Voortrekker. In 1917 he became chief cartoonist for the Rand Daily Mail and the Sunday Times and founded the Johannesburg Sketch Club. He married Sarah Briana Judes in 1918. In 1921 he completed three memorial panels for the Church of St Michael and All Angels, Boksburg, and held his first Cape Town exhibition at Ashbey’s Gallery.

Returning to England in 1922, he exhibited at the Royal Society of British Artists (1923) and supervised the South Africa House Art Section at the Empire Exhibition at Wembley, showing a portrait of Sir George Cory (1924). In 1925, at the International Exhibition at the Royal Academy, he exhibited The Wedding, later acquired by the South African National Gallery, Cape Town (The Old Cork Screw). His first solo exhibition, Paintings by J. H. Amshewitz, was held at the Fine Art Society in 1927, and the Jewish Chronicle praised his portraits as showing ‘an excellent understanding of human nature and a sympathetic and keen ability for expression’ (F. L. B., 1927).

Alongside painting he developed a notable career as an etcher: his prints were published in The Sketch, Illustrated London News, The Sphere, The Graphic and Punch in 1927, and several works were reproduced in key texts on etching by James Laver, Frank L. Emanuel and H. Cutner. Works such as The Merry Monarch and Settlers 1820 were acquired by members of the Royal Family, and in 1932 numerous distinguished guests, including Queen Mary and Princess Alice, attended his private studio exhibitions (Kensington News and West London Times, 1932, p. 7). His portrait subjects included Mahatma Gandhi (1931) and Albert Einstein (1933), the latter reproduced on the front page of the Illustrated London News.He exhibited widely in London during the 1920s and 1930s, including with the International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers at the Royal Academy (1925), the Royal Society of Portrait Painters (1924, 1926) and the New English Art Club (1933, 1934). In 1933 he was commissioned to paint three historical panels for South Africa House, and in 1935 a further panel for the Union Castle liner Athlone Castle. Acknowledging his Jewish heritage, he showed at the inaugural Opening of the Ben Uri Jewish Art Gallery and an Exhibition of Works by Jewish Artists at Woburn House (1934) and in the Annual Exhibition of Works by Jewish Artists (1935).

Amschewitz returned to Johannesburg in 1936 and completed Onward – Voortrekker for Pretoria City Hall in 1937, followed by My Zulu Boy (published in the South African Annual in 1938). Moving to Cape Town in 1939 for health reasons, he continued to receive large public commissions. John Henry Amshewitz died in Cape Town, South Africa on 6 December 1942. A memorial exhibition was held at Johannesburg City Hall (Duncan Hall) the following year, and the city named Amschewitz Street in his honour. In the UK publc domain, his work is represented in the Ferens Art Gallery, Hull; Ben Uri Collection; British Library; and the V&A, among others. His print The Wedding (1925, Ben Uri Collection) has featured posthumously in several Ben Uri exhibitions, including the Festival of Britain: Anglo-Jewish Exhibition, 1851–1951 (1951) and Whitechapel at War: Isaac Rosenberg and His Circle (2008).

Related books

  • John Castagno, Jewish Artists: Signatures and Monograms (Plymouth: Rowman & Littlefield, 2010), p. 17
  • Rachel Dickson and Sarah MacDougall eds., Whitechapel at War: Isaac Rosenberg & His Circle (London: Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, 2008), pp. 18, 19, 29
  • Walter Schwab and Julia Weiner (eds.), Jewish Artists: The Ben Uri Collection (London: Ben Uri/Lund Humphries, 1987)
  • Frieda Harmsen, 'Etchings by J H Amshewitz 1882–1942', De Arte, vol. 20, No. 33, 1985, pp. 42-46
  • Jacqueline Elise Friedman, John Henry Amshewitz: A Bibliography (Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand Dept. of Bibliography, Librarianship and Typography, 1972)
  • 'The Paintings of J. H. Amshewitz', Liverpool Daily Post, 7 August 1951, p. 3
  • Sarah Briana Amshewitz, The Paintings of J. H. Amshewitz (London: B. T. Batsford, 1951)
  • 'Day to Day in Liverpool', Liverpool Daily Post, 16 December 1942, p. 2
  • 'Obituary: Mr. J. H. Amshewitz', Jewish Chronicle, 11 December 1942, p. 12
  • 'Obituary: Mr J. H. Amshewitz', The Times, 9 December 1942, p. 7
  • 'Panel For 'Athlone Castle'', The Kensington News and West London Times, 24 January 1936, p. 7
  • 'Kensington Artist’s Exhibition', The Kensington News and West London Times, 13 July 1934, p. 10
  • 'Queen’s Visit To Exhibition Of Pictures At Warwick Gardens', The Kensington News and West London Times, 15 July 1932, p. 7
  • A. S. Rappoport, Myth and Legend of Ancient Israel, illustrations by J. H. Amshewitz (London: Gresham Publishing Co, 1928)
  • F. L. B., 'Art and Artists: Mr. J. H. Amshewitz', Jewish Chronicle, 17 June 1927, p. 16
  • 'Art Exhibitions: Mr. J. H. Amshewitz', The Times, 15 June 1927, p. 10
  • 'Art and Artists', Jewish Chronicle, 17 December 1926, p. 16
  • J.H. Amschewitz, 'Our Unknown Empire', Leicester Mercury, 27 March 1926, p. 8
  • 'Dominion Art', The Times, 19 March 1926, p. 12
  • Maurice Myers ed., The Passover Hagadah, illustrations by J. H. Amshewitz (London: Geographia, 1920)
  • John Henry Amshewitz, Everyman: A Morality Play (London: Riccardi Press, 1911)
  • Israel Zangwill, Ghetto Comedies, illustrated by J. H. Amshewitz (London: William Heinemann, 1907)

Public collections

Related organisations

  • International Society of Sculptors, Painters and Gravers (exhibitor)
  • Johannesburg Sketch Club (founder)
  • London Portrait Society (member)
  • New English Art Club (member)
  • Royal Academy of Arts (exhibitor)
  • Royal Academy Schools (exhibitor)
  • Royal Society of British Artists (member)
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters (exhibitor)

Related web links

Selected exhibitions

  • Whitechapel at War: Isaac Rosenberg and his Circle, Ben Uri Gallery & Museum, London (2008)
  • Jewish Artists in England 1656-1956, A Tercentenary exhibition, Whitechapel Art Gallery, London (1956)
  • Festival of Britain: Anglo-Jewish Exhibition, 1851-1951, Ben Uri Art Gallery, London (1951)
  • Ben Uri Collection of Paintings, Sculpture and Drawings, Ben Uri Art Gallery, London (1946)
  • London Portrait Society, New Burlington Galleries, London (1934, 1936)
  • Royal Society of British Artists, Pall Mall, London (1931, 1932), Suffolk Street Galleries, London (1928, 1935)
  • Annual Exhibition of Works by Jewish Artists, Ben Uri Jewish Art Gallery, London (1935)
  • Historial Mural Painting by J.H. Amshewitz, Africa House, London (1935)
  • Solo exhibition, 80 Warwick Gardens, London (1934)
  • The New English Art Club, Suffolk Street Galleries, London (1933, 1934)
  • The Exhibition of the Royal Academy, London (1924, 1930, 1933)
  • Royal Society of Portrait Painters, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1924, 1926), Royal Institute Galleries, London (1932)
  • Spring Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull (1932)
  • Solo exhibition, 80 Warwick Gardens, London (1932)
  • Fine Prints of the Year: Mr. Malcolm Salaman's Selection, Fine Art Society, London (1931)
  • British Artists' Exhibition, McLellan Galleries, Glasgow (1929)
  • Spring Exhibition, Ferens Art Gallery, Hull (1929)
  • Paintings by J. H. Amshewitz, Fine Art Society, London (1927)
  • Paintings by J. H. Amshewitz, Fine Art Society, London (1927)
  • Dominion Art, Spring Gardens Galleries, London (1926)
  • International Society of Sculptors, Painters & Gravers, Royal Academy of Arts, London (1925)
  • South Africa Section, Empire Exhibition, London (1924)
  • Royal Academy of Arts, London (1916, 1915,1914, 1913, 1912, 1911, 1908, 1906, 1905)
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Ben Uri collection

John Henry Amshewitz in the Ben Uri collection

Ben Uri archive

Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [John Henry Amshewitz]

Ben Uri library

Publications related to [John Henry Amshewitz] in the Ben Uri Library