Gutting a Fish

Original Egg Tempera Painting           

Canvas – 19 1/2″ x 15 1/4″

Framed –  24 1/2″ x 20 1/2 ”                 

Date: 1948

Price: $18,000

The fish market was a place of great excitement and action. This was a place where you could learn a lot about people! In this piece, we can see how the daily work would take a toll on these people. Yet, despite the tough working days, they were happy to be alive and making a living.

Making Kasha

Original Watercolor

unframed            

Art – 20 ” x 14 ”                     

Date: 1963

Price: $8,000

A woman (perhaps Seymour’s mother) preparing kasha for a Sabbath dinner (notice the candles).

Moses and the Burning Bush

Original Watercolor            

Art – 11 3/4 ” x 9 1/2 ”                

Framed – 21 1/4 ” x 17″       

Date: 1970s

Price: $8,000

In this original watercolor we can see one of Seymour’s interpretations of Moses with the 10-Commandments, only this time we can also see the incorporation of the burning bush.  Seymour often attributed the 10-Commandments being the solution to all of humanity’s ailments. 

The Butcher

Original watercolor        

Art -19 1/2″ x 13 3/4″              

Framed – 27 1/4″ x 21 1/4″                     

Date: 1978

Price: $7,000

One of the many people Seymour would interact with, the butcher was one that everyone in his community knew.  People would line up to get freshly prepared meats and poultry from the local butcher seen here (found in Seymour’s stomping grounds on the lower east side of Manhattan).  

The Candle Vendor

Original  Oil Painting          

Canvas – 29 1/2 ” x 23 1/2″        

Framed –  32 3/4 ” x 26 3/4 ”       

Date 1967

Price: $13,000

An elderly man trying to make a living selling candles on the streets of the lower east side in Manhattan.  Seymour made it a point to capture every bit of reality and grit these people dealt with on a daily basis, as can be seen here by the old wooden box the vendor is sitting on.  If you wanted to have burning candles at your Sabbath dinner, then you needed to visit the candle vendor.

The Sitting Butcher

Original Watercolor   

unframed                            

Canvas – 24″ x 18″                           

Date – 2002

Price: $7,000

Similar to the piece above, here we see a butcher waiting for customers.  We can see a freshly prepared chicken hanging, perhaps ready to be taken home for a Sabbath dinner on a Friday night.  

Finished in 2002, sadly this was towards the end of Seymour’s legacy (he passed away in December of 2007). 

Rabbi Studying           

Original Egg Tempera & Oil painting        

Art – 29 1/4″ x 19″                     

Framed – 32 1/2 ” x  22 1/2″              

Date:  1948

Price: $15,000

This piece is unique in Seymour’s work, in that it features a blend of both the egg tempera and oil mediums.  The subject of the piece is a Rabbi deep in his studies, perhaps pondering the many questions he would have had from the times he lived though.  Judica would go on to be a prominent part of Seymour’s work later on in his career.  

Quitting Time  

Egg Tempera      

Art-  21 1/2″ x  15 1/2″           

Framed – 25 1/2″ x  19 1/2″        

Date:  1948

Price: $18,000

Seymour’s egg tempera paintings of the 1940’s and 50’s give us a unique view into what life truly was like for the working people of the lower east side in Manhattan,  In the work above, we can see a man placing down his broom as he looks at the clock intently; quitting time!  

Moses Freeman’s Fruit Cart

Original watercolor  

unframed              

Canvas  24″x18″       

Date:  1993

Price: $7,000

Here we see an elderly man selling fruit in his “pushcart” (as Seymour would often say).  Mr. Moses Freeman was one of many people who made a living selling what they could on the busy streets of the lower east side of Manhattan.  We can see the toll that a physical job has taken on this man, as he clearly appears hunched over as he carries his produce.  Despite the pain, he still carries a smile.