Rudolf Levy was one of the most prominent Jewish artists in exile in Florence during World War II. His works, inspired by Matisse, were put on the index of "degenerate art" by the Nazis.
Dedicated to him is Rudolf Levy (1975 - 1944) - The Work and the Exile, the first monographic exhibition that the Uffizi Galleries are organizing together with the Museum and Documentation Center of Deportation and Resistance in Prato, scheduled from Jan. 24 to April 30, 2023 at the Galleria di Palazzo Pitti.
Levy (Szczecin 1875-Auschwitz 1944) spent the last years of his life in the Tuscan capital: he arrived in the city in December 1940 and remained there until December 12, 1943, when he was arrested and deported to Auschwitz.
During the period of his exile, which began in 1938, Levy painted mainly still lifes, landscapes and portraits: to this period belongs the portrait Fiamma, recently acquired by the Uffizi Galleries and exhibited in 2022 on the occasion of Holocaust Remembrance Day.
