Portrait of Joseph Leftwich

Jewish writer, critic and Yiddish translator Joseph Leftwich (1892–1983) was one of the founding ‘Whitechapel Boys’. Born Joseph Lefkowich to Polish-Jewish parents in Holland, he was raised in Germany until the age of seven when the family emigrated to Whitechapel. Leftwich initially worked as a furrier, afterwards writing for the Yiddish daily, Di Tsayt, and becoming a founding member of the Whitechapel writers group, which included Isaac Rosenberg, John Rodker and Clare Winsten’s future husband, Simy Weinstein. Leftwich’s 1911 diary (Tower Hamlets Local History Library) is the foremost document on the history of the Whitechapel Boys, now best-known for the artists David Bomberg and Mark Gertler. Leftwich was closely associated with the Ben Uri for many years.This work, with its bold palette and fractured background, shows the influence of Vorticism.