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Octav Băncilă's paintings of Jewsare well known for their realism. During his stay in Munich, while studying at the Akademie derBildenden Künste in 1896-97 , he visited the museums and admired paintings of rabbis by Rembrandt and other masters. At that time he started to paint Jewish figures and created "The Head of a Jew" and "Two Jewish vagabonds from Moldova."
Băncilă returned to Iași in 1898, lived and worked near Târgu Cucu, a district populated mainly by poor Jews. He continued to paint Jewish figures, focusing mainly on the poor Jews living there. Many of them lived in small and dark rooms behind their shops, and like most Romania Jews, had no civil rights, and had to engage in marginal professions with a low income, such as small commerce and crafts. Băncilăpainted different aspects of their lives, focusing mainly on old Jewish craftsmen and merchants at work, in prayer, and taking their children to school.
Some of those paintings, "A Good Deal" (1899) and "The Emigrant"(1900) together with paintings created during his stay in Munich, were displayed in the first exhibition at the National Theater in Iaşi in 1900. In 1901, a second exhibition was displayed in the NeuschotzPalace in Iași. Among the works displayed there were paintings of poor Jews, such as " The water carrier " (Aparul), and paintings of wealthy Jews, likethe portrait ofAdelaidei Neuschotz, wife of baron Jacob de Neuschotz. Băncilă depicted her as a person full of dignity, with a radiant face. The portrait was later displayedin an international exhibition in Berlin.
Although Băncilă continued throughout his life to paint Jewish figures, his best paintings on the subject were created in the years 1907-1916. Among them: "The Council" (1907) " The Ragman" (1908), "Old Clothes" 1908, "The Shoemaker"" 1911), "The Money-lender"(1912), "The Old Tailor" (1913), "In prayer" (1913), "Prayer" 1913, "Kol- Nidrei"(1914) and others.
By creating these paintings Băncilă wanted to draw attention to the fact that the majority of Jews were not wealthy people or bankers, but poor people who had no civil rights and suffered from social discrimination. At that time, various restrictions imposed on the Jews by the Romanian authorities, prevented them from engaging in agriculture, public services etc., thus strengthening their hold on traditional Jewish occupations.
"The Tailor", "The Ragman" and "The Shoemaker, depicting men who are working hard to make an income that is not sufficient for a decent life, are considered to be his best paintings from this series. The Jews portrayed by Băncilă are full of life, and it seems that he was fascinated by those men and their professions.
Băncilă depicted the life of the poor Jews from Iaşi with understanding and compassion, in the same realistic style he depicted the life of the poor Romanian peasants and workers. He depicted both poor Jews that were confident that by working hard or making a good deal will succeed to earn a living for their families, like in "A Good Deal" (1899), and Jews that decided to emigrate, mainly to America. The young man depicted in "The Emigrant," represents the Jews that joined the great wave of emigration at the turn of the twentieth centuryhoping to find a better life.
Maria Epure, Octav Băncilă, Editura de Stat pentru Literatură şi Artă, Bucharest, 1956, 20
Anton Coman: Octav Băncilă, Editura de stat pentru literatură și artă, București, 1954, 24- 25, 86-8
