From Łódź to kraków

This chapter recounts the three years that Samuel Hirszenberg spent in Kraków, a period that began with much excitement, though also sadness over the death of his parents in 1906 and 1907. The chapter emphasizes that it is also a period in which Hirszenberg produced several engaging paintings and a group of portraits depicting the individuals he encountered and inspired. The chapter follows the early years of the twentieth century in which Hirszenberg continued his involvement in Jewish themes alongside landscapes, portraits, and his decorative cycle for the Poznański palace. It highlights the articles on Hirszenberg that introduced him as a ‘Jewish artist’, in keeping with the journal's own mission of promoting a pan-Jewish identity. The chapter elaborates on the certain shift in Hirszenberg's portrait paintings, which may have been the result of his interaction with the younger artists working in his vicinity, notably Leopold Gottlieb and Jerzy Merkel.