Jacob Kramer L.G. (1892-1962)
Portrait of a Young Lady, head and shoulders, wearing a red dress
Signed "Kramer", oil on canvas, 60.5cm by 51cm

Born in the Ukraine, the son of a painter. His parents settled in Leeds in 1900 where he began his art studies. He was later sent to the Slade School by the Education Aid Society and began to exhibit at the New English Art Club from 1914 onwards. He also attended evening classes at Manchester School of Art. Sir Michael Sadler became his patron, and he had a solo show with Matthews & Brooke in Bradford. He was invited to show with the Vorticists in London and was elected a member of the London Group. He began to create a name as a Yorkshire-based artist, showing with Fred Lawson at Leeds School of Art in 1916, and having a solo show at the Bradford Arts Club. In 1959 he was elected President of Leeds Fine Arts Club, and in 1960 had a retrospective exhibition at Leeds City Art Gallery. Six years after his death the City of Leeds Branch College of Art was renamed The Jacob Kramer College of Art. His later shows were at the Parkin Gallery (1973), Belgrave Gallery (1990), and a centenary show at Leeds University Arts Gallery. A Jacob Epstein sculpture of him is in the Tate Gallery, which holds his work, as do the V&A Museum and the British Museum.
See illustration