“Fritz Ascher: Expressionist”
Das Leben und Schaffen des Künstlers Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970). Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art, New York 2016. Gesamtherstellung: Dan Stern. Stimme Erzählung: David Stern; Stimme Gedichte: Lutz Rath; Musik: BenSound. Fotos: Malcom Varon, Kunstwerke und Fotos von Fritz Ascher ©2016 Bianca Stock
“Fritz Ascher: Expressionist”
The life and work of the artist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970). Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art, New York 2019. Production: Dan Stern. Voice Narration: Chris Okawa; Voice Poems: Lutz Rath; Music: BenSound. Photos: Malcom Varon, Art and Photos by Fritz Ascher ©2019: Bianca Stock
“Housebound and Hiding. From Fritz Ascher in 1942 to Ourselves Today in 2020.”
Conversation featuring Dr. Eva Fogelman, Dr. Ori Z. Soltes and Rachel Stern
Commemorating the 50th anniversary of Fritz Ascher’s passing, we discuss the psychological repercussions of having to go into hiding for a long stretch of time–especially for someone who was almost stereotypically a “sensitive artist.” This topic seems particularly relevant to conditions right now, when so many of us are in hiding.
Dr. Eva Fogelman is a social psychologist, psychotherapist, author and filmmaker.
Dr. Ori Z. Soltes teaches at Georgetown University across a range of disciplines, from art history and theology to philosophy and political history. Rachel Stern is the Director and CEO of The Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art, Inc. in New York.
In conjunction with the exhibition “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art, University of Richmond, Richmond, VA (CLOSED DUE TO COVID-19).
The event is sponsored by Allianz Partners.
Rachel Stern: “Forgotten but not Lost. The German Expressionist Fritz Ascher (1893-1970)” (lecture starting at 26:50)
50 years after his death and 75 years after Hitler’s defeat, the first retrospective of the German-Jewish artist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970) comprises of 70 paintings and works on paper ranging from early academic studies and figural compositions to the artist’s late colorful, mystical landscapes. Ascher’ unique visual language was developed among Berlin’s avant-garde artists, interrupted by 12 years of persecution, and continued after 1945, apart from the mainstream art world. The exhibition “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” is on view at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum at the University of Richmond in Richmond, VA from January 15 until May 24, 2020.
Introductory remarks by Richard Waller, Director of the Richmond University Museums; Peter Lefkin, Senior Vice President of Government and External Affairs for Allianz of America Corporation; Vera Beutin, Head of Cultural Affairs, Embassy of the Federal Republic of Germany; and Lieutenant Governor of Virginia Justin Fairfax.
“Expressionisms: Germany and the United States.” Panel discussion at University of Richmond Museums on February 12, 2020.
Among the diverse descriptive labels attached to the art of Fritz Ascher, perhaps none is more evocative and distinct than “expressionist.” In the context of visual art, that term has, over the past century and a half, connoted the articulation of strong emotion–through color, brush work, and the aggressive representation of figures and the elements of nature. This discussion considers ways in which these features, particularly in painting, can explore and have explored embodying emotion and provoking it in the viewer. Also discussed are the relationships of political identity, the workings of the unconscious mind, and the realm of the spiritual to the work of Ascher and other important artists, before and contemporary with him, both in Europe and the United States.
Moderated by
Sarah Eckhardt, Associate Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art, Virginia Museum of Fine Arts, Richmond
With speakers:
Eckhart Gillen, Independent Curator, Berlin
“German and American Expressionism 1914, 1933 and 1941: Franz Marc, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Mark Rothko. Manifestations of National Identity and the Break of Civilization”
Elizabeth Berkowitz, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow, Rockefeller Archive Center
“Fritz Ascher and Ideological Color in Modern Art”
Ori Z. Soltes, Teaching Professor, Center for Jewish Civilization, Georgetown University, Washington D.C.
“Expressionism and Spirituality”
“European Modernism and Spirituality”
Panel discussion at CUNY Graduate Center on January 30, 2019. Throughout much of the 20th century, secularism has dominated Western thought, yet art has often offered both overt and occult connections to spirituality. Fritz Ascher and El Lissitzky reflect this complicated truth in very different but equally compelling ways
Moderated by Rose-Carol Washton Long, Professor Emerita of 19th and 20th Century European Art, CUNY Graduate Center, with speakers Elizabeth Berkowitz, Mellon/ACLS Public Fellow, Rockefeller Archive Center; Matthew Drutt, editor, writer and independent curator; and Ori Z. Soltes, Teaching Professor of Jewish Civilization, Georgetown University.
“Expressionism for Our Time”
Panel discussion at the New York Studio School on March 6, 2019, featuring a brief history of Western Expressionism by art critic and curator Karen Wilkin, followed by a conversation between contemporary artists Rochelle Feinstein, Judy Glantzman, and Adrianne Rubenstein with art historian Robert Slifkin, Institute of Fine Arts, NYU.
Eckhart Gillen speaks about the Weimar Republic (1919-1939) (German language video)
Eckhart Gillen, curator of “Konstruktion der Welt. Kunst und Ökonomie zwischen den Weltkriegen 1919-1939. Amerika – Sowjetunion – Deutschland” speaks about the political situation during the Weimar Republic in Germany, and specifically in Berlin, and what it meant to the artist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970). Conversation with Rachel Stern, Berlin September 2018.
Eckhart Gillen speaks about the artist Fritz Ascher (German language video)
Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970) survived persecution by the Nazi regime in hiding. After 1945, his art changed drastically. Art historian Eckhart Gillen describes Ascher’s art after 1945 and puts it into historical context. In conversation with Rachel Stern, Berlin September 2018.
Ori Z. Soltes speaks about Fritz Ascher (Berlin 1893-1970) and his German-Jewish identity
Jewish scholar Ori Z. Soltes speaks about the artist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970) and his identity as a German Jew, who converted to Protestantism as an 8 year old child. How does his artwork reflect this complex background? New York, September 2018.
What is Expressionist Art?
Art historian Elizabeth Berkowitz explains.
New York, September 2018.
Figurative Art in Germany after 1945
Art historian Elizabeth Berkowitz speaks about Figurative Art in Germany after 1945, and the art of Fritz Ascher (Berlin 1893-1970) in that context.
New York, September 2018.
Fritz Ascher, “The Tortured” (“Der Gequaelte”), 1920s.
Art historian Elizabeth Berkowitz speaks about the monumental early painting by the German Expressionist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970) and puts it into its historical and cultural context. New York, September 2018.
Fritz Ascher, Beethoven, 1924/1945. Oil on canvas, 38 1/2 x 47 in. (97,5 x 119 cm). Image © Bianca Stock
Art historian Elizabeth Berkowitz speaks about the monumental early painting by the German Expressionist Fritz Ascher (Berlin, 1893-1970), which the artist worked on again in 1945, after 12 years of persecution by the German Nazi regime. New York, September 2018.
Interview with Wolfgang A. Gustavus (1945-2018), Berlin 2018 (German language video)
Wolfgang A. Gustavus was a child, when he knew the artist and neighbor Fritz Ascher (1893-1970). In this last interview, he remembers the artist and their relationship. From 1946, the Gustavus family, with Alexander and Friede Gustavus (b. 1915), their children Ute (1949-2014) and Wolfgang (1945-2018), and her mother lived at Bismarckallee 26 in Berlin-Grunewald, in the apartment below Martha Graßmann and Fritz Ascher. They were refugees from Silesia.
Wolfgang Gustavus in conversation with Rachel Stern, Berlin 2018.
