Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita

Key facts

Lived

1868–1944, Dutch

Movement

• Surrealism

Works held in

2 museums^[1]

Plan your visit to see Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita →

• Samuel jessurun de mesquita?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was born in Amsterdam in 1868. He was of Portuguese Sephardic Jewish origin and was not religiously observant despite his background.
• What is Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's most famous work?+

  Although Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita produced a substantial body of graphic work, no single piece is universally acknowledged as his "most famous". He is, however, best known for his woodcuts and linocuts of animals, especially birds, and for his portraits. De Mesquita taught graphic techniques at the School for Applied Arts in Haarlem from 1902 to 1904. Among his pupils were Maurits Cornelis Escher, who credited de Mesquita with teaching him the fundamentals of printmaking, and printing from wood and linoleum blocks. Escher remained a friend and visited de Mesquita frequently until the older artist's death in 1944. His work can be found in several major collections, including the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam; the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; and the British Museum, London. These collections hold a variety of his prints, drawings, and other works, offering a view of his artistic development and range.
• What should I know about Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's prints?+

  Prints were popular among a range of social classes in 17th-century Amsterdam. Much like their Dutch neighbours, Amsterdam's Jewish people enjoyed collecting art for their homes. Even people of modest means, such as shopkeepers and tradesmen, bought paintings, drawings, and prints. Major collectors in the Amsterdam Sephardic community included Gaspar Duarte, who competed with Lopez, and Isaac Orobio de Castro, a physician who immigrated to Amsterdam from Spain in 1662 after a short stay in France. Romeyn de Hooghe appears to have had a special relationship with the d’Acosta-Curiel family, producing etchings of their art-filled home and with the Portuguese Jew serving as resident in Amsterdam for the king of Poland, Franciscus Mollo, whose wedding to Maria Ooms he captured in an allegorical print in 1673.
• What style or movement did Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita belong to?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita is not easily categorised within a single artistic movement. However, his work has some connections with aspects of Expressionism and the Dutch movement known as Bergen School. Expressionism, which peaked in the early 20th century, aimed to present the world from a subjective perspective, distorting it for emotional effect. De Mesquita's woodcuts, with their bold lines and stark contrasts, share some stylistic similarities with Expressionist prints. The Bergen School was a group of Dutch artists working from around 1915 to 1925, based in and around the town of Bergen in North Holland. They reacted against Impressionism, developing a more sombre, expressive style with simplified forms. De Mesquita knew some of these artists, and his work shares some aesthetic qualities with theirs. Although not strictly belonging to either movement, de Mesquita's art aligns with certain elements of both. His individual style makes precise classification difficult.
• What techniques or materials did Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita use?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was a graphic artist who worked primarily with woodcuts and lithography. He also made a few etchings and drawings. Mesquita's early prints show an interest in textures and patterns. His woodcuts often feature strong contrasts between light and dark areas. He sometimes printed his woodcuts in colour, using multiple blocks. After 1920, Mesquita began to experiment with abstraction. His later lithographs are characterised by simplified forms and geometric shapes. These works show the influence of Expressionism and Art Deco. Mesquita taught graphic arts at the School for Applied Arts in Haarlem, where he mentored artists such as M. C. Escher. Escher learned the techniques of woodcut and linocut from Mesquita. He also adopted Mesquita's meticulous approach to printmaking.
• What was Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita known for?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944) was a Dutch artist, known mainly for his graphic work. He produced woodcuts, lithographs, and etchings. His subject matter included animals, portraits, and plant studies. Mesquita taught at the School for Applied Arts in Haarlem, where he influenced a number of students, including M. C. Escher. Escher credited Mesquita with teaching him the technical skills of printmaking and with encouraging his artistic development. Although Mesquita's earlier work showed art nouveau influences, he later developed a more personal style, characterised by strong lines and bold contrasts. His work often had a somewhat dark or macabre quality. Mesquita was of Portuguese-Jewish descent. During the Second World War, he and his family were arrested by the Nazis. They were deported to Auschwitz, where they died in 1944. As a result, much of his work was lost or destroyed. However, a collection of his prints is held by the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.
• When did Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita live and work?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita was born on 6 June 1868 in Amsterdam. He died, also in Amsterdam, on 11 February 1944. In the 1920s, some of the artists at the Art Students League in New York were experimenting with expressionist styles. Rothko, for example, was painting urban scenes, still lifes, and figurative studies. The Museum of Modern Art opened in New York in November 1929. The Whitney Museum of American Art followed in 1931. Rothko continued to work in an expressionist style and painted cityscapes, nudes, figure studies, and domestic scenes. By the late 1930s, Surrealism began to influence art circles in New York, and automatic techniques would affect the development of American art.
• Where can I see Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's work?+

  You can find examples of Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's work in a number of collections. Within the United Kingdom, these include the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery (located in the Royal Pavilion Gardens, Brighton), the Geffrye Museum (Kingsland Road, London), the Manchester Art Gallery (Mosley Street, Manchester), the National Museums of Scotland, Royal Museum (Chambers Street, Edinburgh), and the Victoria & Albert Museum (Cromwell Road, London). In the United States, collections holding his works are the Charles Hosmer Morse Museum of American Art (Winter Park, Florida), the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA), the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, and the Wolfsonian at Florida International University (Miami Beach). His work can also be seen at the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto.
• Where was Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita from?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's origins can be traced to Amsterdam, where he was born into a Portuguese-Jewish family. This community had historical ties to Portugal, with many families having initially fled to Amsterdam to escape persecution and religious restrictions. Amsterdam, during that era, was known for its relative religious tolerance and attracted Jewish people from various parts of Europe and beyond. The city became a significant centre for Jewish culture and intellectual life, with a thriving community that contributed to the city's commercial and cultural development. Many members of this community, like de Mesquita's family, maintained connections to their Portuguese heritage while integrating into Dutch society. This background likely influenced de Mesquita's artistic development and his choice of subject matter.
• Who did Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita influence?+

  It is difficult to assess Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita's influence based on the passages provided. However, the passages do mention a number of artists who depicted Jewish subjects and individuals, particularly in Amsterdam during the 17th century. These artists include Nicolaes Maes and Arent de Gelder, who may have been encouraged by Rembrandt to employ Jewish models for history paintings. Jacob Torenvliet painted a fictional group of rabbis debating Jewish law. Pieter van Gunst, Aernout Nagtegaal, and Jan Luttichuys portrayed actual rabbis in Amsterdam, including Jacob Sasportas. Nagtegaal's mezzotint of 1685 is the only known image of Isaac Aboab da Fonseca. Jan Luyken created etchings of scenes from contemporary Jewish life. These artists, active in the 17th century, suggest a broader interest in Jewish subjects, but the passages do not directly connect them to de Mesquita.
• Who influenced Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944) was a Dutch artist working in printmaking, drawing, and related media. He taught graphic arts at the School of Architecture in Haarlem from 1902 to 1904, and at the Academy for Visual Arts in Amsterdam from 1904 until 1935. Mesquita's early work shows the influence of Dutch Symbolism and Art Nouveau. Some have noted the impact of Jan Toorop (1858-1928), a Dutch-Indonesian painter who worked in a Symbolist style. Toorop is known for his stylised, linear compositions and the use of Javanese motifs. These elements appear in Mesquita's work from the 1890s and early 1900s. Mesquita's later work moved away from these influences. He began to focus on animal studies, portraiture, and still lifes. These later prints and drawings show a greater emphasis on realism and close observation. Some have seen the influence of Japanese prints on his compositions, especially in his animal studies. However, this is less pronounced than the earlier Symbolist influence. He is known as a teacher of important graphic artists, including M. C. Escher.
• Who was Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita?+

  Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868-1944) was a Dutch artist of Portuguese-Jewish ancestry. He is known for his graphic work, woodcuts, lithographs, and drawings. De Mesquita taught graphic arts at the School for Applied Arts in Haarlem. His students included M. C. Escher, who credited de Mesquita with teaching him the technical skills for printmaking, and with showing him the importance of unconventional perspective. Another student was graphic artist, Jos Rovers. His early work featured naturalistic subjects. He later moved toward more stylised, almost abstract, forms. His subject matter included animals, often rendered with a strong sense of design. During the Second World War, de Mesquita was deported by the Nazis, along with his wife, Elisabeth, and son, Jaap. They were transported to Auschwitz in 1944, where they were murdered shortly after arrival. After his death, much of his work was saved by his former students. A collection of his prints and drawings is held at the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.