Watercolor on paper, inscribed, dated, and signed “Stambul 931 J. Pawlikiewicz Scene de grand Bajaz.”
Dimensions in frame: 65x50 cm (44x30 cm)
Józef Pawlikiewicz—likely the artistic pseudonym of Anna May-Rychter (Regensburg 1864–1955), a painter who studied at the Munich Academy of Fine Arts, where Nikolaos Gyzis was one of her instructors. She was the long-time partner of the Polish artist Tadeusz Rychter. They did not marry because the Catholic Church does not recognize divorce, and Tadeusz had previously been married to the Kraków artist Bronisława Janowska. According to Haaretz, social disapproval of their extramarital relationship was the reason the couple left Europe and settled in Jerusalem. May-Rychter lived in the Arabic-speaking neighborhoods of East Jerusalem until the end of her life. She created numerous watercolors depicting genre scenes, portraits, and Oriental landscapes.
