The Maccabaean

The letter which follows was written by Mr. Louis Marshall and read at a meeting held in New York City, during the month of February, in honor of the late Louis Loeb, the artist, who died in New York over a year ago. Loeb was an artist of great power, full of the spirit of idealism, with a keen perception of the higher purposes of his art. For a number of years he was devoted solely to his art, and with great persistence and a fine sense of dignity, he developed into a great artist of ideas. He was born at Cleveland, Ohio, November 7, 1866, and at the age of thirteen was apprenticed to a litho- grapher in his native city. He went to New York in 1885, where he earned his livelihood as a lithographer, and studied in the evenings at the Art Students’ League. In 1890 he went to Paris and studied under Gerome, obtaining honorable mention at the Paris Salon in 1895, and third medal in 1897. He contributed to the chief magazines of the United States, illustrating with great distinction Zangwill’s “Mantle of Elijah,” which appeared in serial form in Harpers. He also devoted himself to portraiture, and his portraits of Israel Zangwill, Jacob H. Schiff, Isidor Sraus and others are considered fine examples of the art.

His idealistic picture, “The Temple of the Winds” was awarded a silver medal at the Pan-American Exposition. His interest in the future of the Jewish people was intense, and his friendship for Zangwill led, in the natural course of events, to an active interest in the Zionist and

the territorialist movements. He displayed great enthusiasm in the positive sides of Jewish life, and was one of the founders of the Jewish Art Society of New York. He was a man with the charm of the artist and the idealist.

Circumstances will prevent my attendance at the meeting to be held in memory of our departed associate, Louis Loeb. I feel, however, impelled to give expression to my appreciation of that fine exemplar of manhood and that great artist.

It is indeed meet that the Judeans should pause to consider the life and work of this co-worker in the cause which they hold dear, whose achievements have reflected glory on the people from whom he sprang, and on the land whick gave him birth. He possessed all the qualities which contribute to full manhood,—a clear intellect, a reflective mind, a warm and affectionate heart, an agreeable presence, strong and abiding convictions, a delightful sense of humor, and the social graces of a gentleman. He was withal modest and unassuming, simple as a child, and tender as a woman. His loyalty to the friends whom ke chose, and to the cause that he espoused, was unswerving, and his enthusiasms exuded the refreshing savor of youth, with all its genuineness and spontaneity.

Although: during his Wanderjahre he came but little in contact with his Jewish brethren, and in the Bohemian days of his residence in Paris his associations were