Berlin by night by Lesser Ury

1922

Leo Lesser Ury (1861-1931) studied painting in Düsseldorf. He lived for a while in Brussels, Paris and Stuttgart before moving to Berlin in 1887.
His first exhibition took place in 1889 and met a hostile welcome. But sponsored by Adolf von Menzel whose influence was great at the Academy, Ury receives a prize. In 1893 he joined the Munich Secession, one of the many secessions formed by progressive artists in Germany and Austria during the last years of the nineteenth century.

 He exhibited with the Berlin Secession in 1915 and 1922. His reputation grew: his paintings, in an impressionist style, were in great demand, especially his nocturnal scenes of cafés and streets in the rain. The streets of Berlin, as well as the Brandenburg landscape, were his favorite motifs. Berlin, the world metropolis, was a favorite subject, so much so that in 1921 he was decorated by the mayor of the city for his contribution to the celebrity of the capital of the Reich.
Ury was the contemporary of Max Liebermann, Max Slevogt, Lovis Corinth. Also of expressionist painters like Kirchner, but his style remained away from the post-impressionist avant-gardes.

According to rumours whose veracity is not confirmed, he would have boasted of having helped Liebermann with the light effects of a painting. Liebermann reportedly replied that he would go to court, but only if he was accused of being himself the author of Ury’s works...
An introverted nature, he became increasingly lonely in his later years. He died in Berlin and is buried in the Jewish cemetery of Berlin-Weissensee.
Ury's work includes, among others, the collections of the Alte Nationalgalerie Berlin, the National Gallery of Washington, D.C. and the Jewish Museum of New York.

Exhibition taking place right now in Berlin