His involvement in the Berlin avant-garde is evident in his work for the Berlin office of Fackel, a Viennese satirical publication edited by Karl Kraus, between 1911 and 1912. During the 1910s, he contributed to several revolutionary literary magazines: "The Beautiful Rarity," "The Only," and "The Action Book," demonstrating his involvement in progressive artistic movements.
His close collaboration with Solomon Friedlaender was illustrated by the illustration of notable works such as "Rosa, la belle Schutzmannsfrau" (1913) and "Graue Magie" (1922). He also illustrated Victor Hadwiger's "Jogo Love and Wedding" (1919), demonstrating his versatility in graphic and literary art.
The rise of Nazism radically transformed his situation: forced to take the pseudonym Popovich to escape censorship, he documented the difficulties encountered by artists under the totalitarian regime. This period of oppression preceded a major personal ordeal: the blindness that struck him after the Second World War, abruptly ending his visual career.
His posthumous recognition is reflected in the preservation of his works in prestigious institutions: the Jerusalem Museum owns a portrait of Jakob Steinhardt painted in 1914, while the MoMA preserves a reproduction of his work in the periodical Aktion. His grave at Waldfriedhof Zehlendorf was honored from 1995 to 2017, testifying to the enduring esteem for his work, which illustrates the turmoil and creativity of German art at the turn of the 20th century.
