Abe Wintner, who owned the Abe Wintner Judaic Art Co. on Beverly Boulevard opened his store at 7319 Beverly Boulevard in 2010 and filled it with Judaic artworks and ceremonial pieces. Abe’s parents and relatives endured untold hardships during World War II while living in the former Czechoslovakian village, Kosice. Abe was born, while his parents were hiding from the nazis in 1945 in the mountains of Czechoslovakia. Wintner’s father and mother fled their village as the Nazis were advancing in 1943, and lived for approximately one year in the nearby Tatra Mountains.
His father, Eliezer, owned a successful textile business and had considerable wealth. Eliezer Wintner has been credited with saving the lives of over 10,000 Jews who otherwise would likely have perished. He used his money to bribe the Germans and Czech police to allow them to go into the mountains. They survived on very little food.
The Wintner family moved to Belgium, Israel, and later Los Angeles. In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Wintner attended a rabbinical school in Baltimore, Ner Israel, where he began collecting antique Judaic art. He saved small increments of money sent by his family for clothing and food and used it to buy antique menorahs, candlesticks, spice boxes, and items used in religious ceremonies. It would turn into a personal desire for collecting artworks that he said represented the strength and resolve of the Jewish people. “It’s the only store specializing in antique Judaica west of New York, ” Wintner said. “I am addicted to it. Some people drink or fool around. This is my addiction — art. Wintner credited his love for art collecting with helping him put the memories of the past somewhat to rest, his store brought a renewed sense of peace to his life.
Abe married Yvonne in 1979 and has 2 children, Dahlia who lives in Raanana, and Yoni living in Los Angeles. Abe has been blessed with 7 grandchildren. Wintner regularly travels to auctions around the country. His collection has grown to include more than 800 pieces, from paintings, drawings, and sculptures to engraved silver and hand-carved wood pieces. Many of the artworks date back 300 to 400 years.
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LOT 49:
1799 German Anti-Semitic Engraving
more...
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Sold for: $1,300
Start price:
$
180
Buyer's Premium: 25%
sales tax: 8.375%
On the full lot's price and commission
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1799 German Anti-Semitic Engraving
Rare 1799 engraving titled at the top "Moses-Mendel-Mener-Pinkus-and the Screamer-blows up everybody!" The horrific image shows a caricature of a bare chested Jewish woman being led through the streets of Spandau, a bag full of money tied to one hand which is also tied to an official walking behind her who is beating her with a bunch of branches. In the foreground one man is whipping a wild boar, probably ready to loose it on the woman, as a dog defecates further forward. A priest at left cheers the spectacle as does the crowd, and a young boy cartwheels at the front of the parade. An inscription in German at bottom mentions "the Jew Meyer".
The engraving may have related to the 1799 circular letter addressed to the ""Very Reverend Chief Councilor of the Consistory and Provost [Probst] Teller at Berlin by some heads of families of the Jewish Religion, "" in which the anonymous author signified willingness, in his own name and that of others, to be baptized, if they would not be obliged thereby to believe in the specifically Christian dogmas. Teller emphatically refused his request. This same image appears in the infamous "Die Juden in der Karrikatur".1921
Dimensions;17in H X 15.7in W X 43.5cm H. X 39.5cm W.
Pencil note at top , dust soiled, still very good condition.
