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For He Had Great Possessions

Image credit: Ben Uri Collection

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Notes

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In this painting Drucker presents a migrant family newly arrived in England, seeking work. Despite forming the main focus of the composition, the family is excluded from and oblivious to the lively activities taking place behind it. The presence of a barrow boy, a conspicuous local character, locates the work in the East End – home to successive waves of immigrants. This single family unit is emblematic of the vast wave of Eastern-European Jews escaping persecution and financial hardship who fled to the UK before, during and after the Second World War. However, the date of the painting also suggests that they are economic migrants, victims of the 1930s ‘slump’. The title invokes the biblical story in which a man refuses to part with his earthly riches in exchange for spiritual enlightenment.

Ben Uri Gallery & Museum

London

Title

For He Had Great Possessions

Date

1932

Medium

oil on canvas on board

Measurements

H 50.5 x W 61.2 cm

Accession number

1987-76

Acquisition method

gift from Dr Geoffrey Konstam, 1952

Work type

Painting

Inscription description

Amy Drucker 1933/2?

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Ben Uri Gallery & Museum

108a Boundary Road, St John's Wood, London, Greater London NW8 0RH England

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