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Berlin Artist

May 30, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #32, May 2020

2020-06-02T16:23:50-04:00May 30th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #32, May 2020

Dear Friends, I hope you and your families are well despite the continuing challenges, both physical and psychological.  “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia These are the last impressions of “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond. The exhibition is now officially closed, even though the artwork will stay in solitary confinement until the art shippers are back in business. This past week, we celebrated Fritz Ascher, the exhibition in Richmond, and the winners of our competition, with a virtual event. [...]

Mar 26, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #31, March 2020

2020-03-26T08:37:32-04:00March 26th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #31, March 2020

Dear Friends, How much has our life changed over the past few days! “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia is closed. Until our online exhibition is up, you can see photos of the installation here. “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia We also invite you to be part of our free online conversations, which we will announce on our website, on Facebook, and on Twitter. “Housebound and Hiding. From Fritz Ascher in 1942 to Ourselves Today in 2020” is the first conversation on Thursday, on March 26th, at 8:00pm EDT, commemorating the 50th anniversary of [...]

Feb 6, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #30, February 2020

2020-02-06T08:01:15-05:00February 6th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #30, February 2020

Dear Friends, “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” is now on view at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia, until May 24 (link). You can listen to my opening lecture here. “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at the Joel and Lila Harnett Museum of Art in Richmond, Virginia In every venue, different hanging bring out new aspects of single artworks, and unexpected connections between artworks provide new insights. The Harnett Museum of Art is no exception. For the first time, “The Tortured” (“Der Gequälte”) takes up center stage. It is a monumental painting measuring 59 x 79.4 inches. Fritz Ascher created it in the 1920s, as social and racial tensions in [...]

Dec 10, 2019

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #29, December 2019

2019-12-10T06:06:07-05:00December 10th, 2019|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #29, December 2019

Dear Friends, Today I have exciting news: on November 13, the Fritz Ascher Stiftung (Fritz Ascher Foundation) was founded at Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin (City Museum Berlin) (link). The foundation's board of trustees consists of Paul Spies, director of Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Eckhart Gillen, art historian and curator, and Rachel Stern, director of the Fritz Ascher Society. from left: Paul Spies, Peter-Stephan Prause, Eva Bünte, Rachel Stern, Martina Weinland, Peter Bünte Ephraim Palais, Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Berlin (Germany) The foundation was initiated by private collectors of the artistic work of Fritz Ascher, to give his work a publicly accessible home and to present it in the context of his artistic contemporaries in [...]

Sep 23, 2019

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #28, September 2019

2019-09-23T17:36:19-04:00September 23rd, 2019|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #28, September 2019

Dear Friends, Fall is finally upon us. Fritz Ascher’s “Landscape with a Cloudy Sky” from c. 1960 captures the rich colors and dramatic light of late afternoon, brought forth with spontaneous, dynamic brushstrokes that characterize the artist’s late work. Fritz Ascher, Landscape with a Cloudy Sky, 1960s. Oil on canvas, 39.4 x 37.4 in. While he was hiding from the Nazis 1942-1945, the artist wrote: I have spent the summer re-reading the poems I have access to, marveling at their rich verbal imagery and thinking about a publication of this powerful manifestation of the artist’s creativity, which translates so easily into disciplines other than the visual [...]

Jun 7, 2019

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #27, June 2019

2019-06-07T08:01:34-04:00June 7th, 2019|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #27, June 2019

Dear Friends, I hope you all were able to see “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at NYU’s Grey Art Gallery that closed on April 6. Thanks to director Lynn Gumpert and her fabulous team, the exhibition looked great and was complemented by an engaging program. The show was well received, both by visitors and critics. In the meantime, most reviews are translated into German here. If you were not able to visit in person, you can see photos on our website here. The exhibition was part of Wunderbar Together: The Year of German-American Friendship 2018/19, an initiative of the Federal Foreign Office of Germany and the Goethe-Institut, with the support of the Federation of German Industries (BDI).  “Fritz Ascher, Expressionist” at Grey [...]

Oct 12, 2018

“Umkämpfte Wege der Moderne. Wilhelm Schmid und die Novembergruppe” 


Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte, Potsdam (Germany)

2019-02-05T12:43:50-05:00October 12th, 2018|, |Comments Off on “Umkämpfte Wege der Moderne. Wilhelm Schmid und die Novembergruppe” 


Potsdam Museum – Forum für Kunst und Geschichte, Potsdam (Germany)

The exhibition "Umkämpfte Wege der Moderne. Wilhelm Schmid und die Novembergruppe" is dedicated to the controversial epoch of 1918-1933 and the radical changes during the following period. (link) Some of the artistic pioneers took the 1918/1919 revolution as an opportunity to unite as the "November Group", probably the most prominent political artistic group of the Weimar Republic. These self-proclaimed "revolutionaries of the mind" set out on new paths of artistic expression with their motives, colors and forms, rejecting the old imperial conventions in form and content. The members of the group not only caused a sensation with their revolutionary demand to participate in the new state in all art-related issues. For in the exhibitions - primarily at the Great Berlin [...]

Sep 4, 2018

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #22, September 2018

2018-11-26T05:40:08-05:00September 4th, 2018|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #22, September 2018

Dear Friends, I know, this summer I seem obsessed with Fritz Ascher’s I know, this summer I seem obsessed with Fritz Ascher’s Dancers from 1921. But there is one more thought about the drawing that I want to share. Fritz Ascher, Dancers, 1921. Private collection. Photo Malcolm Varon ©2018 Bianca Stock Fritz Ascher, Dancers, 1921. Private collection. Photo Malcolm Varon ©2018 Bianca Stock When the drawing was created,“Freikörperkultur” (FKK) or “free body culture” had become popular in Germany. Founded in 1898 in Essen, Germany, the nudist culture was about celebrating the body unencumbered by clothes, in nature and sunlight. Many of the naturists came from the Wandervogel movement, the pre-eminent German youth movement, founded to escape the repressive and [...]

Mar 23, 2018

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #19, March 2018

2018-12-04T11:47:15-05:00March 23rd, 2018|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #19, March 2018

Dear Friends, I was touched by how many neighbors and friends from near and far came out into the chilly but sunny winter weather on February 21 to celebrate Fritz Ascher and recognize his persecution by the National Socialists by laying a “Stolperstein” (stumbling stone) at Niklasstraße 21/23 in Berlin-Zehlendorf, where his family lived from 1909. Thank you to the anonymous donor for making this event possible, to Dirk Jordan (AG Stolpersteine), Michael Rohrmann (Projekt Stolpersteine) and Wolfgang Ellerbrock for organizing it, to Cornelie von Bismarck for creating a beautiful context, and to Sabine Witt from Museum Charlottenburg-Wilmersdorf in Berlin and Jutta Götzmann from Potsdam Museum for supporting it. A special thank you to the students from Potsdam for reciting [...]

Dec 27, 2017

2017, December 22 – Elke Linda Buchholz in tagesspiegel.de

2018-12-04T11:57:56-05:00December 27th, 2017|Select Press Coverage|Comments Off on 2017, December 22 – Elke Linda Buchholz in tagesspiegel.de

Fritz-Ascher-Retrospektive „Leben ist Glühn“ Die Wiederentdeckung des Expressionisten Fritz Ascher: eine Doppelausstellung in der Villa Oppenheim und im Potsdam Museum. by Elke Linda Buchholz Einen so vollständig vergessenen Künstler zurückzuholen in die Aufmerksamkeit, braucht Kraft, Geduld und kreative Energie. Vor 30 Jahren stieß die deutsch-amerikanische Kuratorin Rachel Stern bei einem Sammler auf Arbeiten von Fritz Ascher. Sie hatte noch nie von ihm gehört. Jetzt ist sie als quasi weltweit einzige Expertin für den 1893 geborenen Maler wieder zurück in der Stadt, wo auch er einst gelebt und gearbeitet hat. Hier bei Max Liebermann holte der junge Wilde sich als 16-Jähriger nach abgebrochener Schule die höheren Weihen einer Empfehlung an die Königsberger Kunstakademie und startete zwischen Secessionisten und Expressionisten seine Karriere. [...]

Dec 26, 2017

2017, December 7 – Mathias Richter in Märkische Allgemeine, p. 12

2018-12-04T12:05:52-05:00December 26th, 2017|Select Press Coverage|Comments Off on 2017, December 7 – Mathias Richter in Märkische Allgemeine, p. 12

Der vergessene Expressionist Das Potsdam-Museum zeigt Werke des von den Nazis verfolgten Malers Fritz Ascher by Mathias Richter Sie gehören zur sogenannten verlorenen Generation. Künstler wie Gertrude Sandmann, Magda Langenstrass-Uhlig oder Eric Isenburger. Sie hatten Anfang der 30er Jahre grosse Ambitionen und wahrscheinlich eine grosse Karriere vor sich. Doch mit dem Machtantritt von Adolf Hitler erhielten sie Berufsverbot, wurden verfolgt, ihre Werke als "entartete Kunst" verfemt. Wer die Nazi-Zeit überlebte war vergessen und stand vor dem Nichts. Einer der Angehörigen dieser verlorenen Generation ist Fritz Ascher. Das Potsdam-Museum widmet dem radikalen Berliner Expressionisten in Kooperation mit der Villa Oppenheim in Berlin-Charlottenburg von Sonntag an eine Sonderausstellung. 80 Gemälde und Grafiken sind in den beiden Museen zu sehen, davon etwa 50 [...]

Dec 25, 2017

2017, December 7 – Lena Schneider in Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, p. 27

2018-12-04T12:07:01-05:00December 25th, 2017|Select Press Coverage|Comments Off on 2017, December 7 – Lena Schneider in Potsdamer Neueste Nachrichten, p. 27

Ein Zerrissener Das Potsdam Museum entdeckt Fritz Ascher, der sich in Potsdam vor den Nazis versteckte by Lena Schneider Wer war Fritz Ascher? Das Potsdam Museum hat diesem Unbekannten eine Sonderausstellung gewidmet. „Leben ist glühn“ heißt sie. Ein Bild, das hier hängt, kann man als bestürzende Antwort auf die Frage lesen. „Bajazzo“ heißt es, nach dem italienischen Bruder des Harlekin. Zu sehen ist eine schemenhafte Gestalt, in gelbem Kostüm. Im weiß geschminkten Gesicht ist so etwas wie ein trostloser Schatten des Clownsgenres auszumachen: schwarze Augen, die rot überzogen Mundwinkel krümmen sich nach unten. Das ganze Bild ist wie zerschossen von Farbpunkten. Die Antwort darauf, wer Fritz Ascher, geboren 1893 als Kind jüdischer Eltern, war, findet sich im Entstehungsdatum des Bildes: [...]

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