Leo Lesser Ury

Leo Lesser Ury (1861–1931)

Lesser Ury, a "forgotten" artist from Berlin's turbulent Secession era, came to Berlin in 1871 from the small town of Birnbaum in the former province of Posen. From the very first moment, Ury felt a very special sympathy for the cosmopolitan city, which was so reflected in his art that he was honored by the mayor of Berlin on his 60th birthday as an "artistic glorifier of the imperial capital." But before Ury finally made Berlin his long-term residence, he studied painting in Düsseldorf and Brussels, gained valuable experience in Paris, including with Lefebvre, and explored Flanders and Munich, where he enrolled for a short time at the Academy of Fine Arts in 1886. The following year he settled permanently in Berlin. Just as virtuoso as he was with oil painting, which allowed the artist to produce flower pictures, still lifes, and the typical coffee house and street scenes, Ury mastered the pastel technique, which allowed him to depict the air and light reflections of the landscapes in a richly nuanced way. While his Berlin contemporaries Liebermann, Slevogt and Corinth shared common artistic intentions, Ury was a loner who went his own way in art. His increasing fame was a thorn in the side of Max Liebermann, the president of the academy and influential spokesman of the art scene, probably for competitive reasons, as he tried by all means to block his artistic career. It was only when Lovis Corinth succeeded Liebermann that Ury was able to exhibit regularly and successfully in the Secession. In 1921 the artist became an honorary member of the Secession. During this decade Ury travelled several times to London, Paris and various German cities, each time bringing back a wealth of new paintings. After a heart attack shortly after a trip to Paris in 1928 the painter's health deteriorated. Three weeks before his 70th birthday, on which the National Gallery and the Secession wanted to honour Ury's life's work, the artist died in his Berlin studio.

Source: Askart.com - https://www.askart.com/artist/Lesser_Ury/11076936/Lesser_Ury.aspx