The Talmudists

An important Leeds-based artist, in whose honour Leeds Branch College was renamed Jacob Kramer College. Born in the Ukraine to Jewish parents who came to England in 1900, Jacob Kramer attended the Leeds School of Art and studied at the Slade School in London in 1912. In March 1915, Kramer accepted an invitation to exhibit as an independent artist at the first (and only) Vorticist exhibition. He was not a member of the Vorticist group, although he applied their semi-abstract style to Jewish subjects. Kramer became a significant figure in Leeds, painting portraits of many local businessmen and professional people. He became president of the Leeds Fine Art Club in1959. After his death, Leeds Branch College, where Kramer had taught, was renamed as Jacob Kramer College. The Talmudists, c. 1919, was bought with the help of an anonymous donation through the LACF in 1999.