József Klein was a Romanian visual artist born in 1896 in the city of Cermei in Arad county. After finishing high school he attended the University of Fine Arts in Budapest between 1916 and 1919 under professors Károly Ferenczy and Istvan Réti. He also worked with Vilmos Perlrott Csaba at the Kecskemét art colony in 1919. Later he settled in Nagybánya in 1920. Throughout his life he earned his living by selling his pictures and was helped out financially by his wife, who was designing hats.

     From 1919, he worked in Baia Mare alongside the artists led by the painter János Thorma. He presented his works in the group exhibitions starting in 1920 at the Baia Mare School in Satu Mare, in Cluj, in Oradea and Timișoara. After opening 16 personal exhibitions and participating in numerous collective exhibitions, Iosif Klein left for Paris and worked for a year and a half between 1925 and 1927. He was inspired by the art of Foujita, Chagall, Utrillo, Picasso and Puvis de Chavannes. When he returned, he organized individual exhibitions in Nagybánya, Kolozsvár, Bukarest and Temesvár.

     Besides his paintings, his graphical work is also very significant, including drawings, water-colors, and colored lino-engravings. He presented these works at individual and group exhibitions as well. The Nagybánya teachers Sándor Ziffer and Noémi Ferenczy shared his passion for modernism and chose to mentor the young artist.

     József Klein lived in Bucharest between 1932 and 1937 and worked in the field of applied arts. In the late 1930s he completed a large series of paintings titled, Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter that were originally meant to be frescoes. He returned to Nagybánya in 1938 and organized an exhibition together with Jenő Szervátiusz.

     His works represented modern art and spiritual renewal beginning from the 1920s. His instruction and example encouraged other young artist at the Nagybánya colony to experiment in the avant-garde movement.

    On new year's eve in 1943 he presented a series of anti-fascist caricatures to the circle of his closest friends. Together with other Jews from Nagybánya, the painter and his wife (Piri Kohn) were deported in June of 1944. He was killed either in Auschwitz or the KZ camp near Melk an der Donau. A memorial exhibition was organized for him in the museum of Nagybánya in 1962.