Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita (1868 – 1944) was a Dutch graphic artist active in the years before the Second World War. His pupils included graphic artist M. C. Escher. A Sephardic Jew, in his old age he was sent to Auschwitz by the Nazis, where he was gassed along with his wife. After the war, de Mesquita was largely forgotten.

At the age of fourteen, the young de Mesquita applied to the Rijksakademie in pursuit of his artistic interests, only to be rejected. Deeply disappointed, he apprenticed himself to an acting city architect, for whom he worked for two years before entering a technical school with the intention of becoming an architect himself. He soon turned, however, to the pedagogy and, in 1889, received a teacher’s certificate, which would later enable him to support his family.

Over the next years, de Mesquita principally devoted himself to art, experimenting with various techniques and mediums. Though known primarily for his wood engravings, he also produced etchings, lithographs, watercolors and drawings; his applied art consisted mostly of material designs.

There are birds, exotic animals, plants and flowers, and fantastical representations, both humorous and grim. Among de Mesquita’s most beautiful works are his portraits, particularly his self-portraits.

Samuel Jessssurun de Mesquita’s work was included in the 1939 exhibition and sale Onze Kunst van Heden (Our Art of Today) at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam.

With Nazi Germany’s invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940, Samuel Jessurun de Mesquita, already in poor health, was forced to lead a secluded life, limiting his work largely to sketches. Source: Wikiart.