Sal Meijer's Amsterdam  12 October 2012 until 17 March 2013

Cityscapes, still lifes, landscapes, cats and self-portraits

From 12 October 2012 through 17 March 2013, the Jewish Historical Museum will present the exhibition Sal Meijer's Amsterdam,  the first retrospective of this Amsterdam artist in more than twenty five years. Sal Meijer is known for his paintings and etching of Amsterdam canals, farms in the Gooi and everyday cats.

Sal Meijer (1877-1965) was born in Amsterdam's Jewish Quarter. At a young age, he was already working in the diamond industry. But his passion was drawing and painting so he took classes in the evening. At the age of thirty-six, he decided to leave the diamond industry and dedicate himself to painting. In the 1930s, he moved with his wife, six cats and an easel to the town of Blaricum, so he had 'new motifs to paint'. Sal Meijer died on 1 February 1965 and is buried at the Jewish cemetery in Muiderberg.

In recent decades, the Jewish Historical Museum has assembled a fine Sal Meijer collection. This work will be shown for the first time in the exhibition Sal Meijer's Amsterdam together with work from private collections and other museums including: Amsterdam's Stedelijk Museum, the Rijksdienst voor het Cultureel Erfgoed, the Kattenkabinet and the Mokum Collectie/Huiskamermuseum in Aalsmeer. This exhibition provides a good overview of Sal Meijer's oeuvre.

The Dutch book Het Amsterdam van Sal Meijer will be released (Publisher Bekking & Blitz, € 9.90) in conjunction with the exhibition. In this publication, Nino van der Enden and Edward van Voolen portray Sal Meijer's story related to the history and art of his time - richly illustrated with cityscapes, still lifes, landscapes, cats and self-portraits by the artist.