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Visual Artists of Leeds
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The Day of Atonement by Jacob Kramer, a painting depicting a series of white cloaked figures walk from right to left across the canvas, with heads bowed in prayer Add to board
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The Day of Atonement by Jacob Kramer

Kramer worked on this painting depicting the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur, for nine months when it was commissioned by the Leeds Jewish Representative Council as a gift to Leeds Art Gallery. Its stark depiction of a procession of figures in silent prayer, incorporates a strong Vorticist influence, the structural tension of horizontal and vertical elements, and the rhythm of the stylised figures, carrying its emotional intensity.

Oil on canvas.

Leeds Art Gallery. LEEAG.1920.0276. Given by the Jewish Community of Leeds, 1919.