Perlmutter Izsák (1866-1932)

Izsák Perlmutter (1866–1932) was a Hungarian painter, a significant figure at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries. Born in Budapest into a wealthy, art-loving Jewish family, he began his studies in Budapest and continued at the Julian Academy in Paris, where he was influenced by masters such as Edgar Degas, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, and Édouard Manet. From 1898, he lived and worked in the Netherlands, inspired by the works of Jozef Israëls. In 1904, he returned to Hungary, working in the artists' colony of Szolnok and later in Besztercebánya. He eventually settled in Rákospalota, where he frequently painted his family, home, and local peasant life. His works were exhibited in numerous national and international exhibitions, including Berlin, Paris, and Munich. In 1926, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence acquired his self-portrait. A year before his death, in 1931, he bequeathed his works to the Hungarian Jewish Museum and his palace on Andrássy Avenue to the Jewish community, intending it to house a Jewish museum. He is buried in the Kozma Street Jewish Cemetery in Budapest.