Three Rabbis Wearing Streimels - Oil on Canvas, Signed, Mid-20th Century, Charles Bragg (1931-2017) Celebrated satirical cartoonist and painter whose works remain popular with a huge fanbase.
Oil on canvas painting depicting three elderly rabbis wearing traditional fur streimels, shown in close, intimate formation against a softly abstracted background. The figures are rendered with heavy-lidded eyes, elongated noses, and flowing white beards, their expressions solemn and contemplative. The painter employs a muted, earthy palette of browns, ochres, grays, and subdued blues, with loose, expressive brushwork that emphasizes mood and spiritual gravity rather than strict realism.
The composition is tightly cropped, bringing the viewer into direct confrontation with the sitters' faces and emphasizing their age, wisdom, and communal presence. Subtle variations in pose and gaze create visual rhythm across the trio, while the textured surface of the canvas remains clearly visible beneath the paint layers.
Signed at lower left with an indistinct monogram or signature mark. The stretcher verso bears a handwritten name, "Charles Bragg," along with additional pencil notations, suggesting artist identification or prior attribution. While stylistically consistent with mid-20th-century Jewish genre painting, no definitive attribution is confirmed.
Housed in a period giltwood frame with linen liner. Canvas appears relined or reset within the frame; stretcher and wire present. Scattered age toning visible to the canvas verso. Overall an evocative and atmospheric work reflecting Jewish religious life and identity, likely dating to the mid-20th century.
Estimated Value $500 - 805
Judaica
