Wilhelm Wachtel (1875–1942), The Homeless, 1930s

Lithograph, paper; dimensions (inside frame): 435 x 580 mm; unsigned. Print from the portfolio "Farewell to Golus," published in Lviv in 1936. Bibliography: Maria Grońska, Prints in Books, Portfolios, and Albums. Polish Art and Bibliophile Publications from 1899–1945, Wrocław-Warsaw-Kraków 1994, pp. 291–292, no. 574. The composition is in the collections of, among others, the National Museum in Kraków.

Wilhelm Wachtel (1875–1942), a Polish-Jewish painter, printmaker, illustrator, and representative of Realism and Late Symbolism, was born in Lviv. He studied at the Kraków School of Fine Arts under Leopold Löffler and Leon Wyczółkowski, and later at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich. He was associated with the artistic community of Lviv and also exhibited in Kraków, Warsaw, Vienna, and Paris.

In his work, he primarily addressed Jewish themes—painting genre scenes, portraits, biblical compositions, and views of Jewish towns. He also created landscapes, nudes, and book illustrations. His trips to Palestine were particularly significant, resulting in series of paintings dedicated to the lives of Jewish settlers and the landscapes of the Holy Land.

He lived in Palestine from 1936, and after the outbreak of World War II, he emigrated to the United States, where he died in 1942. He is considered one of the most outstanding Jewish artists associated with Galicia and an important representative of art inspired by Zionist ideas. A significant portion of his body of work was scattered or lost during the war.