J. Herczfeld -- the little I've heard about him
Sometimes people ask me about an artist who signs his paintings J. Herczfeld. As far as I know, it is not a relative. The name Herczfeld is maybe not very common, but it isn't rare either. The origins of it is the town Bad Hersfeld in Germany. My husband's ancestor moved from there to the Austro-Hungarian empire, ended up in Hungary, where the 's' changed phonetically to 'cz'. Back in those times, 1800s, people often got their last name from the town they were from. (Like the 'Spanish' painter El Greco -- The Greek. Or Leonardo, that guy from the place called Vinci.) There are plenty of Herczfeld, Hersfeld, Hersfeldt, Herczfeldt etc all over the world.
J. might be a John, according to one source. One story I heard is that he was a young man who walked neighbourhoods, knocked on doors, to sell paintings and drawings. Sometimes alone, sometimes together with a young woman. This seems to have happened about two to three generations ago. Possibly in the 30s, or 40s.
I doubt his paintings are worth anything much, so enjoy the beauty of them, and know you have a piece of one man's history in your possession. He got a meal that day the painting changed hands. And could buy a new tube of paint.
