Epstein, Clara    (Brünn/Brno, South-Moravia, Czechoslowakia 03-12-1886 – 12-05-1955 Indianapolis, Indiana, USA)

Painter, illustrator and graphic artist (etcher). Oldest daughter and first born of Vienna confectioner Julius Epstein (1862-1939) and Ernestine Feldmann (?-?). She was a Jewish artist and studied under Tina Blau* (1845-1916) in the “Kunstschule fur Frauen” in Vienna, in Paris under Lucien Simon (1861-1945) and under painter-etcher Hans Meid (1883-1957) in the “Staatliche Hochschule für Bildende Künste” in Berlin. Worked in Vienna and Paris and in the 1920s stayed several times in Amsterdam (like Tina Blau) emigrating in 1938 (acc. Sauer 1992-, vol. 34, p. 321). 

Her known graphic work is characterised by open landscapes and trees, although one critic states: “she illustrates her emotions at the changing atmosphere in the 1920s in drawings such as Sabbath Room (1928) and Rachel’s Tomb (1928). In the latter, her gaze, which is directed to Jerusalem, illustrates her longing. However, rather than embarking on a religious path to renew her Jewish identity, she adopted the Zionist concept of belonging to a great historical nation”.

In several publications and mentioning it is stated she died in (after fleeing to) Amsterdam in 1938. Although there are no records of her stay in 1938 it can be assumed she managed to escape Nazi persecution fleeing to Amsterdam, which she knew from earlier visits, and from there managed to immigrate to America where several relatives had also found shelter: the families of her brother Ernst (Dallas) and sister Hella (Indianapolis) but also several cousins. Her brother Friedrich and his wife Maria Rosenberg were seized, deported and murdered in Treblinka in 1942.
(She had 19 cousins (children of uncles and aunts), several not survived persecution in the Holocaust, 2 died in the Russian Revolution and some made it to America)

In the 1940 Census Clara lives with her younger sister Helen Lederer’s family in Indianapolis, Indiana. Her sister works as an office clerk for the Jewish Newspaper and her husband Leo for the Indianapolis Real Silk company.
Their son Peter was born in “Germany” and daughter Ernestine in 1938 in Indiana.

From  Clara’s obituary:
“Well-known Indianapolis artist living 3516 Central-Avenue, came to America in 1938, Studied Art in Vienna, worked in Japan and Holland, exhibited in galleries in Europe and the Far East. Worked for 14 years as an artist in the display department of L. S. Ayres & Co. A large warehouse in Indianapolis before retiring in 1953 because of poor health”. She died a year later.  

Well known for her murals and paintings and shows in John Herron Art Museum. First prize winner (pastels) in the 1950 Indiana State Fair and winner of the Margaret Bridewell memorial Award for an outstanding pastel in the Hoosier Art Salon. 

She was a member of the Indiana Artists Club, Business and Professional Women’s Club and national Council of Jewish Women. She is buried at Central Hebrew Cemetery". 

Half a dozen watercolours of Italian landscape are kept in the Indianapolis Museum of Art as “Gift of Clarence Efroymson”. They are stylishly reminding of Paul Cézanne’s Provence paintings. 

Clarence W. Efroymson (01-11-1897 – 05-03-1988) was a professor of economics at Butler University for 35 years before retiring in 1968, was a son of Gustave Efroymson and a respected philanthropist in Indianapolis. He received a BA from Harvard and PhD in history and economics from the University of Vienna. He also obtained a BA in Hebrew Literature from Hebrew Union College in 1959.

Dresslers Kunsthandbuch 1921: living Pfalzburgerstrasse 13 Berlin.

Articles in Jewish magazine Menorah: March1924 (Heft 3) “Die Juden von Zindorf” and March1929 (Heft 3-4) “Im Atelier der Graphikerin Clara Epstein”, Wien/Frankfurt, 1929” by Karl Tscharny. 

Awarded a memorial article in an American (Indiana) cultural magazine in 2010. 

* See: Tina Blau, impressionist painter and founder of the “Kunstschule für Frauen und Mädchen” in Vienna.

Represented in the 1924 “Wohlgemuth & Lissner Grafikkatalog” with 13 etchings priced 8-30 Reichsmark. Her name spelled: Eppstein 

Ancestry

1    Clara Epstein (Brno Moravia, Czechoslovakia 03-12-1886 - 12-05-1955 Indianapolis Indiana, USA).

Parents:
 

2    Leopold Julius Epstein (Vasvar, Hungary 11-01-1862 - 05-04-1939 Vienna). Confectioner, then goose liver merchant. 

3    Ernestine Feldman (? - ?)

    1.    Clara (Brno 1886 - 1955 Indianapolis USA) 

    2.    Friedrich Epstein (Brno 1890 - murdered 1942 Treblinka) x Maria Rosenberg (1894 - murdered 1942 Treblinka)

    3.    Ernst (Brno 1893 - ?) x Alice Eden (1894 - ar. 1974 Dallas Texas USA). 

    •    David Eden (Otto David Epstein) (Vienna 1917 - 1993 Dallas)

    •    Ruth Adler-Eden (b. Vienna ar. 1918)

    4.    Hella Epstein-Lederer (Vienna 1903-  1875 Yorktown, New-York USA ) x Leo Lederer (1902-1979)

    •    Jane Rosenbaum-Lederer 

Grandparents:
 

4    Benjamin Epstein (b. Hostuoñ, Czechoslovakia  ar. 1822), teacher. 

5    Ludmilla Grossmann (16-12-1827 - 19-11-1903 Vienna

 

    1.    David Epstein (1856-1921) x Gisela Hoffmann (d. 1922) (they had 3 children)

    2.    Regine Epstein  (1859-1893) x Armin Schlänger (1865-1930) (they had 2 children)

    3.    Heinrich Epstein (b. ar. 1855) book-keeper x Cilli Feldmann (they one daughter)

    4.    Johanna (Hanni) Epstein  (1858-1902) x Ignaz Großmann (b. 1850) (they 4 children)

    5.    Leopold Israel Epstein (1860-1939) x Fanni Feith (1855-1942) (they had 5 children)

    6.    Leopold Julius Epstein (1862-1939)

    7.    Emil Epstein (1865-1934) x Hermine Großmann (1860-1923) (they had 3 children)

6    Anton Feldman 

7    Jetti Husserl

        
        1.  Cilli Feldman x Heinrich Epstein 

            Elsa Elisabeth Schlänger-Epstein (Vienna 1892-1940 France)

        2.  Ernestine Feldman x Leopold Julius Epstein