Wolf Hamburger Collection

Wolf (Wolfgang) Hamburger was born to Kurt Natan-Hamburger and Hertha Levin in Berlin in January 26, 1917, brother to Friedel (born 1919) and Peter (born 1922). His talent was recognized early on, but he received no formal art education. Given the political situation in Germany and Kurt's Zionist leanings, the family migrated to Palestine in May 1933 and settled in Tel Aviv. Wolf retuned to Berlin the following year and in 1935 moved to Paris, where he joined a group of communist artists and began to publish political cartoons in the press. In February 1937 he moved to Barcelona in order to contribute to the propaganda activity of Communist and anarchist groups during the Spanish civil war. In May 1937 he returned to Paris and in October 1938 married Anne Wittmann (born 1905). The couple tried, unsuccessfully, to obtain a visa to the USA or South America and eventually, despite their initial reservations, traveled to Palestine in May 1939 due to Anne's illness. After she recovered, in July of that year, they returned to Paris. In September Wolf was imprisoned in a French internment camp. On January 26, 1940, after being released from the camp, Wolf and Anne committed suicide in their room at the George V hotel in Paris.