Judy’s mother Anyu, 1936
Object numberM2019/020:001
TitleJudy’s mother Anyu, 1936
Creator Judy Cassab (artist)
DescriptionPencil and watercolour on paper drawing by Judy Cassab of her mother, titled, 'Anyu' (mother in Hungarian), 1936. Cassab is well-known for her talents as a portraitist and significant body of landscapes. She won the Archibald twice, in 1961 and 1963 and has been awarded numerous other awards and honours.
Judy Cassab was born Judit Kaszab in 1920 in Vienna, Austria. She was raised by her mother and grandmother in Beregszasz, Hungary, where she studied art. Judy painted her first portrait at the age of 12 and penned diaries which were later published as a book. She studied art in Prague and at the Budapest Academy, but her studies were disrupted by Nazi occupation and her subsequent time in hiding. ‘It was the first time in my life that I was not a girl, not a woman, not a human being, but a Jew'. Most of Judy’s immediate family perished in the Holocaust. In 1951, she migrated to Australia with her husband and two young sons. Her first solo exhibition was held at the Macquarie Galleries in Sydney in 1953.
Cassab died in November 2015, leaving behind a significant body of work, exhibited both in Australia and internationally. As a migrant and as a woman, she overcame remarkable obstacles to define her place and purpose as an artist: ‘My art work is so intrinsically interwoven in the fabric of my being that I cannot conceive of any sort of existence without it. I pray that I never have to.’
Judy Cassab was born Judit Kaszab in 1920 in Vienna, Austria. She was raised by her mother and grandmother in Beregszasz, Hungary, where she studied art. Judy painted her first portrait at the age of 12 and penned diaries which were later published as a book. She studied art in Prague and at the Budapest Academy, but her studies were disrupted by Nazi occupation and her subsequent time in hiding. ‘It was the first time in my life that I was not a girl, not a woman, not a human being, but a Jew'. Most of Judy’s immediate family perished in the Holocaust. In 1951, she migrated to Australia with her husband and two young sons. Her first solo exhibition was held at the Macquarie Galleries in Sydney in 1953.
Cassab died in November 2015, leaving behind a significant body of work, exhibited both in Australia and internationally. As a migrant and as a woman, she overcame remarkable obstacles to define her place and purpose as an artist: ‘My art work is so intrinsically interwoven in the fabric of my being that I cannot conceive of any sort of existence without it. I pray that I never have to.’
Production date 1936 - 1936
Object namedrawings
Dimensions
- width: 145.00 mm
height: 215.00 mm
Language
Credit lineSydney Jewish Museum Collection, Donated by Peter Kampfner