Skip to main content

Leo Schutzman Paintings

American, Russian, 1878-1962
Leo (Kyle) Schutzman (1878?-1962) developed a reputation in New York in the 1950s as the ‘Jewish Grandma Moses.’ The characterization was particularly appropriate. Both artists only took up painting in a serious way in their old age after retiring from work. They also shared a popular aesthetic style then known as ‘primitivism’ or ‘naive art,’ far from the abstract expressionism that was the art critic’s darling at the time. Schutzman was born Leo Kyle in Russia around 1878. His father died when he was 3 years old and he immigrated to England in his teens, where he remained for 9 years. When he moved to the United States in 1905, he took the name Schutzman after a German family who was renting to his nephew, Louis Kyle. In New York City, Schutzman worked in the Jewish-dominated clothing industry, producing underwear as well as lace and embroidery. He founded the Victory Undergarment Company and the business was successful enough to provide for his family until he retired at about age 74. After retirement, Schutzman took art courses at the Brooklyn Museum and began painting. He often depicted scenes of Jewish religious life that he remembered from childhood in Russia. His work seemed the very definition of ‘naive art’ as it was personified by Grandma Moses in the 1950s. His clumsy human figures sometimes had no features at all, or were portrayed with just a slash for the mouth and two dots for the eyes. He had only the vaguest sense of perspective and often used dissonant colors in unusual places. Schutzman had his first one-man show in 1958, when he was 80 years old, at The Contemporaries gallery (992 Madison Ave.). His optimistic primitivism was popular in the United States in the 1950s as was his backstory; an immigrant who had succeeded as an entrepreneur in the capitalist system before affirming the democratic individualist creed that everyone had talents and could accomplish something at any age. He was soon socializing at parties with people like heiress/artist Gloria Vanderbilt. One of his ‘non-Jewish’ works depicting a winter carnival was chosen in 1962 for the United Nations Children’s Fund Christmas Card Collection. When Grandma Moses died in 1961, naive art began to lose popularity Schutzman was living in Glendale Queens when he died at age 83 in 1962 and his reputation soon disappeared. In 1986, two of his paintings were acquired by the Jewish Museum in New York City. One of them, “The Wedding,” (c. 1960) was an iconic portrait of an Ashkenazic wedding. It has been reproduced by the Jewish Museum on popular stationery, and has appeared in popular books such as The Complete Idiot's Guide to Understanding Judaism.
to
1
Overall Width
to
Overall Height
to
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
1
769
758
754
636
1
1
Artist: Leo Schutzman
Related Items
Balance, Whimsical female with flowers, roses, bright golden sky

Stephen BassoBalance, Whimsical female with flowers, roses, bright golden sky, 2017

$3,200

H 40 in W 40 in D 2 in

Balance, Whimsical female with flowers, roses, bright golden sky

By Stephen Basso

Located in Brooklyn, NY

*ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imagina...

Category

2010s Outsider Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Portrait of Two Children
Portrait of Two Children

Arthur ArmstrongPortrait of Two Children, circa early 19th century

$3,750

H 58 in W 48 in D 2 in

Portrait of Two Children

Located in Milford, NH

A wonderful early 19th century large oil on canvas naive portrait of two children, a boy and a girl, attributed to American artist Arthur Armstrong (1798-1851). Armstrong was born in...

Category

19th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Portrait of Benjamin Franklin" c. 1840 attr. David Rent Etter Philadelphia Oil
“Portrait of Benjamin Franklin" c. 1840 attr. David Rent Etter Philadelphia Oil

David Rent Etter“Portrait of Benjamin Franklin" c. 1840 attr. David Rent Etter Philadelphia Oil, Circa 1840

$15,000

H 37.25 in W 32.25 in D 3 in

“Portrait of Benjamin Franklin" c. 1840 attr. David Rent Etter Philadelphia Oil

Located in Yardley, PA

About this work: “Portrait of Benjamin Franklin (after David Martin)" c. 1840 attributed to David Rent Etter (American, 1807-1880). A wonderful 19th-century portrait of Benjamin Fra...

Category

Mid-19th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Early 20th-Century English School, John Lovibond & Sons, Cannon Brewery, Fulham
Early 20th-Century English School, John Lovibond & Sons, Cannon Brewery, Fulham

Early 20th-Century English School, John Lovibond & Sons, Cannon Brewery, Fulham, c. 1901

$2,398

H 20 in W 34 in

Early 20th-Century English School, John Lovibond & Sons, Cannon Brewery, Fulham

Located in Cheltenham, GB

This charming early 20th-century English School oil painting depicts the Cannon Brewery at North End, Fulham, owned by John Lovibond & Sons Ltd. Founded in 1867, the brewery was...

Category

Early 1900s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Dancers, Haitian Naive Painting
Dancers, Haitian Naive Painting

Saincilus IsmaelDancers, Haitian Naive Painting, c.1970's

$1,800

H 24 in W 19.75 in

Dancers, Haitian Naive Painting

By Saincilus Ismael

Located in Surfside, FL

SAINCILUS ISMAEL Petite Rivière de l'Artibonite, Haiti, b. 1940, d. 2000 Saincilus Ismael was born in Petite Riviere de l’Artibonite, Haiti. He began to paint in 1958, after visitin...

Category

20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

“Manhattan Street" 1942 by Samuel Koch NYC WWII American Outsider Art Oil Canvas
“Manhattan Street" 1942 by Samuel Koch NYC WWII American Outsider Art Oil Canvas

Samuel Koch“Manhattan Street" 1942 by Samuel Koch NYC WWII American Outsider Art Oil Canvas, 1942

$9,500

H 28.5 in W 32.5 in D 2 in

“Manhattan Street" 1942 by Samuel Koch NYC WWII American Outsider Art Oil Canvas

Located in Yardley, PA

About this work: “Untitled (Manhattan Street)" 1942 by Samuel Koch (Polish/American, 1887-1963). A fantastic and rare example of Koch’s charming views of New York. A milliner by tra...

Category

1940s Outsider Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Bearded man, Jewish King or Rabbi Polish Israeli Folk Art Modernist Oil Painting
Bearded man, Jewish King or Rabbi Polish Israeli Folk Art Modernist Oil Painting

Pinchas ShaarBearded man, Jewish King or Rabbi Polish Israeli Folk Art Modernist Oil Painting, c.1960

$2,600

H 32 in W 24 in

Bearded man, Jewish King or Rabbi Polish Israeli Folk Art Modernist Oil Painting

By Pinchas Shaar

Located in Surfside, FL

This painting is iconic of Pichas Shaar's aesthetic, and stylistic influences. A ceramic mosaicist and sculptor as well as a painter, Shaars strong decorative sense was evident in hi...

Category

1960s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

19th century British Folk Art, Singers singing about Napoleon in a landscape
19th century British Folk Art, Singers singing about Napoleon in a landscape

19th century British School19th century British Folk Art, Singers singing about Napoleon in a landscape, circa 1820

$6,950

H 32 in W 48 in

19th century British Folk Art, Singers singing about Napoleon in a landscape

Located in Woodbury, CT

Anonymous (English School) The Ballad Singers, ca. 1820 Oil on canvas Lively, theatrical, and brimming with charm, The Ballad Singers is a rare surviving example of early 19th-centu...

Category

1820s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Badami People, Oil on Canvas, White Purple Green Color "In Stock"
Badami People, Oil on Canvas, White Purple Green Color "In Stock"

JMS ManiBadami People, Oil on Canvas, White Purple Green Color "In Stock", 2019

$2,149

H 22 in W 18 in D 1 in

Badami People, Oil on Canvas, White Purple Green Color "In Stock"

By JMS Mani

Located in Kolkata, West Bengal

JMS Mani - Badami People Oil on Canvas - 16 x 12 inches each (unframed size) 20 x 18 inches ( Framed ) Inclusive of packing . The simple, rustic folk of the Deccan Plateau in Sout...

Category

2010s Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

the golden lobster, fantasy, surreal bather

Stephen Bassothe golden lobster, fantasy, surreal bather, 2018

$1,850

H 24 in W 24 in D 1 in

the golden lobster, fantasy, surreal bather

By Stephen Basso

Located in Brooklyn, NY

ABOUT Stephen Basso Stephen Basso's highly original pastels and oil paintings are romantic, yet thought provoking fantasies. His whimsical works are alive with boundless imaginat...

Category

2010s Outsider Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Oil, Canvas

Woman in Apron with Basket of Flowers, Oil Painting
Woman in Apron with Basket of Flowers, Oil Painting

Mildred BarrettWoman in Apron with Basket of Flowers, Oil Painting

$850

H 17.5 in W 13.5 in

Woman in Apron with Basket of Flowers, Oil Painting

By Mildred Barrett

Located in Surfside, FL

Manhattan-born Mildred Barrett is a woman to whom painting is capturing the mood of the subject with an exceptional use of color. Barrett's training includes the Art Students League...

Category

20th Century Folk Art Leo Schutzman Paintings

Materials

Canvas, Oil

Previously Available Items

Leo Schutzman paintings for sale on 1stDibs.

Find a wide variety of authentic Leo Schutzman paintings available for sale on 1stDibs. You can also browse by medium to find art by Leo Schutzman in canvas, fabric, oil paint and more. Not every interior allows for large Leo Schutzman paintings, so small editions measuring 23 inches across are available. Leo Schutzman paintings prices can differ depending upon medium, time period and other attributes. On 1stDibs, the price for these items starts at $7,500 and tops out at $10,000, while the average work can sell for $8,750.