William Auerbach-Levy

Russian / American 1889-1964

Perhaps best remembered for his caricatures of prominent personalities which appeared in magazines such as Vanity Fair and The New Yorker, William Auerbach-Levy was a highly skilled painter and etcher.

A classmate of Norman Rockwell’s at the New York National Academy of Design, Auerbach-Levy studied at Paris’ Julian Academy on a two year scholarship under the tutelage of Jean-Paul Laurens. Returning to New York, Auerbach-Levy taught life drawing and etching at the Educational Alliance Art School as well as the National Academy School of Fine Arts.

A recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship in 1929, William Auerbach-Levy was a prolific painter, illustrator and printmaker who also authored several books on the art of caricature. His work can be found in the Art Institute of Chicago, the New York Public Library, The Cleveland Museum of Art, the Smithsonian and the Boston Museum of Fine Arts.

A large compilation of Auerbach-Levy’s etchings were donated to Luther College in Chicago in 1941 by the family of Dr. Nils E Remmen and remain among the most significant of the collected works in the college’s Fine Arts Collection.

For further reading…an excellent article on Auerbach-Levy was written for American Heritage Magazine.

Visit. AMERICAN HERITAGE