Anna May-Rychter

Anna May-Rychter (1864–1955) was an early 20th century German realist painter best remembered for her watercolors of the Holy Land.

Life May-Rychter was born in Regensburg, Bavaria, in 1864; the daughter of Henry von May, who held an appointment of personal physician for Prince of Thurn and Taxis. During her childhood, Karl Theodor, Duke in Bavaria brought the physician and his family to Munich, where she was educated by Catholic nuns and went on to study at the Academy of Fine Arts, Munich. There, Nikolaos Gyzis was one of her teachers.

Known unofficially as May-Rychter (May was Anna's maiden name), she was the long-term partner of Polish artist Tadeusz Rychter. The two did not marry because the Catholic Church did not recognize divorce and Tadeusz had been previously wed, According to Haaretz, social disapproval of their out-of-wedlock relationship was the reason why the couple left Europe and settled in Jerusalem.

In 2014 the Palestinian Heritage Foundation and The Jerusalem Fund sponsored an exhibition of May-Rychter's watercolors