Prussian-born Montrealer William Raphael, known for his portraiture and genre painting, is considered to be the first professional Jewish artist to practice in Canada.
Raphael was born into an Orthodox Jewish family of Polish decent, the Rafalskys, one of at least seven children. In his youth, he made frequent trips between his hometown, Nakel, and Berlin, where he studied at the Academy of Arts. He was strongly influenced by his teachers Karl Begas, a genre/historical scene painter, and Johann Eduard Wolff, a portraitist.
Raphael quit his studies in 1956, when his father got sick. After his father’s death, Raphael decided to immigrate to North America. He arrived in New York City in 1856 and stayed there for four months. Then, in 1857, he moved to Montreal, where one of his brothers was, and stayed there for the rest of his life.
Raphael was well known for his portraits, including many prominent Canadian figures like Dr. Louis- Édouard Desjardins, Dr. Aaron Hart David and the Rev. Abraham de Sola (who performed his marriage). His portraits of Governor Generals were said to have hung in the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa. Raphael was also noted for his lively landscapes, which depicted the lives of aboriginals and French Canadian settlers. One of his most famous paintings is Immigrants at Montreal (later changed to Behind Bonsecours Market, Montreal), which shows the painter in a bustling market scene, with luggage in one hand and a candelabra in the other; it now hangs in the National Gallery of Canada.
To support his art, Raphael taught at both English (the High School of Montreal and the Art Association of Montreal) and French institutions (the Sisters of St. Anne in Lachine and their associated convents), even setting up his own private school for drawing and painting in 1885. The other significant part of his income came from commissioned portraits. He also worked at a photography studio, restored paintings for churches and convents, and was an anatomical illustrator for medical journals and physicians’ teaching aids.
Raphael was active in many professional organizations, such as the Art Association of Montreal, the Ontario Society of Artists, the Pen and Pencil Club of Montreal, and the Council of Arts and Manufacturers of the Province of Quebec. He was a founding member of the Society of Canadian Artists and a charter member of the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts. He was invested as a freemason in 1864. He was also a charter member of Temple Emanu-El in Montreal in 1882.
Raphael married Ernestina Danziger in 1865. They had nine children. One of them, their son Samuel, went on to become a professional artist in NYC.
