Newsletter Archives - Fritz Ascher Society

Jan 2, 2025

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JANUARY 2025

Rachel Stern2025-01-09T14:06:25-05:00January 2nd, 2025|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JANUARY 2025

Dear Friends, Happy 2025! An eventful month lies ahead. First of all, I am very excited to announce that you now can experience our website in multiple languages - try it out: https://fritzaschersociety.org/. Here at the Fritz Ascher Society, we are starting the year with two virtual talks that are connected to exhibitions - one in London and one here in New York: WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 8, 12:00PM EST FRED KORMIS (1894-1986)– SCULPTING THE TWENTIETH CENTURY PRESENTATION BY BARBARA WARNOCK, LONDON (ENGLAND) REGISTER HERE Fred Kormis, Two Heads, c. 1930s © Wiener Holocaust Library Collections Sculptor and printmaker Fred Kormis (1894-1986) was born into an Austrian and German-Jewish family in Frankfurt, Germany, was wounded fighting [...]

Dec 24, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY wishing you joyful holidays

Rachel Stern2025-01-09T13:35:50-05:00December 24th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY wishing you joyful holidays

Dear Friends, We wish you Happy Holidays with Mayer Kirshenblatt's painting Hanukkah, in which he remembers celebrating the holiday with his family in Opatów (Apt) in the 1920s. "This is Hanukkah at home with my father, mother, and brothers. We lit the candles and sang Maoz tsur (Rock of Ages). I painted a few notes to indicate that we were singing. It was a special day for us because we were let out of school early. Father gave me Hanukkah gelt, a few pennies for a present, in honor of the holiday. Mother cooked latkes, potato pancakes, which are very delicious. She grated raw potatoes, added eggs, and flour and fried the pancakes in shmalts, [...]

Nov 26, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter DECEMBER 2024

Rachel Stern2024-12-12T19:30:39-05:00November 26th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter DECEMBER 2024

Dear Friends, What a whirlwind of a month this was, with the opening of the important new Fritz Ascher exhibition, "Love and Betrayal - The Expressionist Fritz Ascher from New York Private Collections" at the House of the Graphic Collection, Augustinermuseum in Freiburg im Breisgau (Germany). This is the first exhibition that focusses on works on paper created by Fritz Ascher before 1933. In this most immediate and intimate medium, we discover the cheerful and thoughtful artist who was part of the avant-garde in what was then the most exciting cultural city in the world and who spontaneously recorded his thoughts, ideas and experiences on paper, or worked on pictorial themes or compositions. The exhibition is on view [...]

Oct 29, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter NOVEMBER 2024

Rachel Stern2024-12-12T19:00:08-05:00October 29th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter NOVEMBER 2024

Dear Friends, Breathtaking foliage, crisp weather and the change of clocks are the messengers of fall - a fall that brings an important election in the United States - please vote, everyone! - and the opening of the Fritz Ascher exhibition in Freiburg im Breisgau in Germany. If you can, please join me there! And don't miss the online presentation of this very little known woman artist: WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 20 ONLINE FELKA PLATEK - ARTIST AND COMPANION OF THE PAINTER FELIX NUSSBAUM Presentation by Anne Sibylle Schwetter REGISTRATION FOR ONLINE EVENT Felka Platek, Self-portrait in front of an open window, around 1940. Gouache on drawing paper, 65 x 49.7 cm. Felix-Nussbaum-Haus [...]

Oct 1, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter OCTOBER 2024

Rachel Stern2024-12-12T18:26:36-05:00October 1st, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter OCTOBER 2024

Dear Friends, As we prepare to welcome the Jewish New Year on Wednesday night, we reflect on the past while looking ahead with hope and purpose. Thank you for being part of our community, and for supporting our work. In the coming year, we reaffirm our commitment to educate, engage and inspire with engaging and meaningful virtual and in-person events and exhibitions about artists, who were suppressed and persecuted by the German Nazi regime. Looking back 100 years, allows us to learn and think about highly relevant topics. WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9 ONLINE OTTO ANTOINE (1865-1951): "THE PAINTER OF BERLIN" BETWEEN COMPLIANCE AND DEFIANCE Presentation by KATHLEEN LANGONE REGISTRATION FOR ONLINE EVENT [...]

Sep 4, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2024

Rachel Stern2024-12-12T18:10:34-05:00September 4th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter SEPTEMBER 2024

Dear Friends, Thank you for your generous donations over the summer, which help ensure our virtual programming this fall. Happy September! This month we feature memory painter Mayer Kirshenblatt, who recreated the Polish town of his youth in paintings and words. We also honor the Dutch painter and sculptor Jaqueline de Jong, who died only recently. Her flight to Switzerland in infancy determined her outlook on life and her art. And Ori Z Soltes and I will sit down for an in-person book talk about "Welcoming the Stranger" at George Washington University in Washington, DC: TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10 ONLINE PAINTED MEMORIES OF A JEWISH CHILDHOOD IN POLAND BEFORE THE HOLOCAUST Presentation by [...]

Jul 31, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter AUGUST 2024

Rachel Stern2024-08-13T08:58:22-04:00July 31st, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter AUGUST 2024

Dear Friends, With the Olympic Games going on, I can't resist to share with you Fritz Ascher's drawing of two muscular male nudes wrestling. The drawing will be on view for the first time in the exhibition "Love and Betrayal. The Expressionist Fritz Ascher in New York Private Collections," which will open on November 8th at Haus der Graphischen Sammlung in Freiburg (Germany). Fritz Ascher, Two Male Nudes Wrestling, ca. 1916. Graphite and charcoal on paper, 29 x 22,8 cm. Private Collection This sheet is one of several works in which the artist depicts fighters around 1916. As a sport, wrestling experienced its Golden Age in Germany and Europe at the beginning of the 20th century. This [...]

Jul 3, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JULY 2024

Rachel Stern2024-08-11T05:49:52-04:00July 3rd, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JULY 2024

Dear Friends, This month, we have two very special online programs for you before we take a short summer break in August. But first of all, we are excited to share with you our 2023 program report (please click on the image): PROGRAM REPORT 2023 Still hurting from the aftermath of COVID, we are proud of the exhibitions and programs we were able to organize in 2023, and your feedback proves that we are doing something right. But we need your help. This summer, we aim to raise $6,000.00 to support our virtual fall programming. This year is the 10th anniversary of The Fritz Ascher Society. If you want to honor this momentous occasion [...]

May 30, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JUNE 2024

Rachel Stern2024-05-30T10:22:55-04:00May 30th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter JUNE 2024

We have a special film for you, and you don't even have to leave your house to see it! Watch the film THE WILD ONE before June 5th on your home device. A link will be provided to all who register. Then join us as Chantal Perrin, the film’s French producer, speaks with Ori Z Soltes from Georgetown University in Washington DC. A link will be provided to all who register: WEDNESDAY, JUNE 5, ONLINE From Auschwitz to Hollywood: Jack Garfein, “THE WILD ONE” Film Screening and Conversation with French producer Chantal Perrin REGISTRATION FOR FREE FILM SCREENING AND ONLINE FILM DISCUSSION THE WILD ONE illuminates the journey of unsung artist Jack Garfein [...]

May 1, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter MAY 2024

Rachel Stern2024-05-30T10:01:32-04:00May 1st, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter MAY 2024

May is American Jewish Heritage Month, and in our virtual series “Flight or Fight. stories of artists under repression” we are discussing two fabulous artists, who both immigrated to the United States and lived in New York. Please note the unusual 7:00pm EST time of the first event, which accommodates the Hong Kong time zone of one of our speakers. I hope that you'll be comfortable by now to register for events via our new system. Please be aware that all virtual events are FREE OF CHARGE. However, we very much appreciate each and every donation. WEDNESDAY, May 8 ONLINE 7:00 PM EST "Let's Talk Interesting People:" THE STORY OF ERNA FRIEDLÄNDER (1890-1979) REGISTER FOR THIS ONLINE [...]

Mar 28, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter April 2024

Rachel Stern2024-04-02T18:31:46-04:00March 28th, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter April 2024

Finally it's spring, and with it comes the energy of renewal and hope. At the Fritz Ascher Society, we have installed a new system to register for events. Hoping it will work flawlessly, I ask you to be kind and patient if it doesn't. Next week, we will hear National Jewish Book Award winner Benjamin Balint in conversation with Georgetown University Professor Ori Z Soltes: WEDNESDAY, April 3 ONLINE 12:00 PM EDT BRUNO SCHULZ (1892-1942): An Artist, a Murder, and the Hijacking of History REGISTER FOR THIS ONLINE EVENT HERE Bruno Schulz, ‘The Enchanted Town II,’ 1920-1922. Bruno Schulz is renowned as a master of twentieth-century imaginative fiction. Isaac Bashevis Singer called him “one [...]

Mar 1, 2024

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter March 2024

Rachel Stern2024-03-05T11:31:35-05:00March 1st, 2024|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter March 2024

Happy March! This month, we are looking forward to three fabulous events. Please join us on March 18 at Fordham University in New York to celebrate the book launch of Welcoming the Stranger. Abrahamic Traditions and Contemporary Implications, or join us via livestream. Online, we'll learn about two artists well respected in their time, and recently re-discovered. Please safe March 27, 12:00pm ET for an unbelievable art mystery that is a developing story. Stay tuned! Next week, we'll focus on Rahel Szalit, who will be recognized in a forthcoming book publication. Hear author Kerry Wallach: WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6 ONLINE 12:00 PM EST ”TRACES OF A JEWISH ARTIST: THE LOST LIFE AND WORK OF RAHEL SZALIT (1888-1942) REGISTER [...]