History
“Fritz Ascher: Themes and Variations”
A Digital Exhibition Experience
This digital exhibition includes important examples from the oeuvre of the German Jewish Expressionist artist Fritz Ascher (1893-1970). Ascher’s career extended from prior to the First World War until the late 1960s. However, Ascher’s artistic trajectory was interrupted due to persecution under National Socialism, and he spent much of the Second World War in hiding, concealed in a family friend’s basement. Ascher’s work consequently encompasses both the vibrant artistic scene in early-20th-century Germany, as well as the trauma and aesthetic shifts consequent of Ascher’s persecution and deprivations during the twelve years of the Nazi regime. These selected works are representative not only of critical moments in Ascher’s personal and artistic development, but also of key themes that occupied Ascher’s [...]
Theodore Fried (1902-1980): In Hiding and Beyond
Presentation by Sofia Thornblad, Tulsa (OK)
ONLINE
VA, United States
This presentation will explore the historical background and creative works of Hungarian-born Jewish artist Theodore Fried (1902-1980). He was educated at the Budapest Academy of Fine Arts and moved to Vienna in 1924 and to Paris in 1925. He met and married his first wife Anna and his son Christopher was born in 1928. That same year, the artist had his first one-man show, and was included in important shows in Vienna, Prague, Berlin, and Paris. Image above: Detail of Theodore Fried, Self Portrait, not dated. Oil on canvas. Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art, Tulsa (OK) REGISTER HERE If you are interested but can’t attend the event, please register anyways and you will receive the [...]
Samson Schames (1898-1967): Family and Friends
Conversation with Natalie Green Giles, James McCaffrey and Charlie Scheidt.
Moderated by William Weitzer
ONLINE
VA, United States
In this virtual event, a distinguished panel comprising family members, friends, and their descendants from New York will share memories of the German-born artist Samson Schames (1898-1967). His work, which blends modernist aesthetics with spiritual and historical depth, is recognized for its innovative technique and poignant reflections on exile, memory, and identity. Born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, he fled Nazi persecution to England in 1939 and later emigrated to the United States with his wife, Edith, in 1948. Image above: Samson Schames, Blowing the Shofar, c. 1956. Shards of glass, polychrome, layered in relief, 25.4 x 29.7 in. (64.5 x 75.5 cm). Jewish Museum Frankfurt REGISTER HERE If you are interested but can’t attend the [...]
Ossip Klarwein (1893-1970): an Architect’s Journey from Berlin to Jerusalem
Presentation by Jacqueline Hénard, Berlin (Germany)
ONLINE
VA, United States
In this virtual event, Jacqueline Hénard will speak about the architect Ossip (also: Joseph) Klarwein (1893-1970), a pioneer of the avant-garde, whose works – including iconic buildings such as the church at Hohenzollernplatz in Berlin and the Knesset in Jerusalem – built bridges between expressionist tradition and radical modernism. Ossip Klarwein was born in 1893 in Warsaw. Due to pogroms in the collapsing Russian Empire, he emigrated with his parents and siblings to Hesse in 1905. Klarwein became an architect, with professional focuses in Berlin and Hamburg. In 1924, he married Martha Elsa Kumme, a Protestant opera singer. They had a son, Matthias. Image above: Ossip Klarwein, Knesset in Jerusalem (Israeli parliament). Photo front side, 2022. Wikimedia Commons Clema12, CC BY-SA 4.0 REGISTER HERE If [...]
Matisse at War. Art and Resistance in Nazi Occupied France
Book talk by Christopher C. Gorham
ONLINE
VA, United States
When the Degenerate Art exbibit opened in Munich in the summer of 1937, works by notable foreign modernists were denigrated along with German artists. Henri Matisse’s Blue Window (1913) was legally seized by the Nazi regime for inclusion in the traveling exhibit, and his work was banned from German museums. REGISTER HERE If you are interested but can’t attend the event, please register anyways and you will receive the link to the recording. Participating in the event enables you to ask questions and be part of the discussion following the talk. Henri Matisse was among the modernists derided by the Nazis. That did not stop them from stealing his art. At the Jeu [...]
