Rachel Stern2025-03-06T14:49:27-05:00February 14th, 2025|Events, Lectures|
Journalist Michael Sontheimer will speak about Alfred Flechtheim, who was born in 1878 in Münster as the son of a wealthy German Jewish grain dealer. He was trained as a trader but did not want to stay in the family business. As he was fascinated with art, he left his hometown and moved to Düsseldorf, where he opened a gallery in 1913. After serving in the German Army during the First World War, in 1921 he opened a second gallery in Berlin, the place to be in the 1920s. He brought works from modern French artists like Picasso, Braque, Chagall, and others to Germany. He also made German painters like Max Beckmann, George Grosz, and Paul Klee widely known. [...]
Rachel Stern2025-03-02T04:34:45-05:00January 20th, 2025|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
Rachel Stern will present insights into the art and life of the German-Jewish artist Fritz Ascher and the mission of The Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art. Introduced by Richard Quinlan, Director of the Center for Holocaust and Genocide Education at Saint Elizabeth University in Morristown (NJ). Image above: Fritz Ascher, Male Portrait in Red, c. 1915. Private collection © Bianca Stock Fritz Ascher (1893-1970), a painter, graphic artist, and poet, was recommended to the art academy in Königsberg by the renown German painter Max Liebermann at the age of 16. From 1913 onwards, he gained recognition as a painter in Berlin. Ascher was a keen observer of his era; the [...]
Rachel Stern2024-12-18T05:55:27-05:00December 4th, 2024|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
Jutta Götzmann, exhibition curator of "Love and Betrayal," presents the artist Fritz Ascher (1893-1970) during a tour. In addition to early charcoal, graphite and ink drawings, colorful gouaches are fascinating. Poems that are considered his "unpainted pictures" and were created in secret during the National Socialist era complement the exhibition. BUY TICKETS HERE The Fritz Ascher Society is a not-for-profit 501(c)3 organization. Your donation is fully tax deductible. YOUR SUPPORT MAKES OUR WORK POSSIBLE. THANK YOU. DONATE HERE
Rachel Stern2024-11-24T14:39:31-05:00October 28th, 2024|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
Der Maler, Grafiker und Dichter Fritz Ascher (1893-1970) wurde bereits als 16-Jähriger von Max Liebermann an die Akademie in Königsberg empfohlen. Ab 1913 gehörte er zu den gefragten Malern in Berlin. Er war ein genauer Beobachter seiner Zeit; die Urkatastrophe des Ersten Weltkriegs und die revolutionären Unruhen in Berlin führten ihn zu christlichen und mystischen Themen, die er radikal neu interpretierte. Nach 1933 erhielt Ascher als Jude Berufsverbot. Während der Pogrome am 9./10. November 1938 wurde er verhaftet und im Konzentrationslager Sachsenhausen und im Potsdamer Gestapo-Gefängnis interniert. Die Schoa überlebte er ab 1942 versteckt in einem Keller in Berlin-Grunewald. Während dieser einsamen Jahre verfasste er Gedichte. Als Künstler fand Ascher nach 1945 seinen ganz eigenen Stil. Angeregt vom nahe [...]
Rachel Stern2024-11-24T14:40:53-05:00October 22nd, 2024|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
Der spätexpressionistische Künstler Fritz Ascher (1893-1970) überlebte zwei Weltkriege und die Verfolgung durch das nationalsozialistische Regime. Als aufmerksamer Beobachter der Schrecken des Ersten Weltkriegs und der revolutionären Unruhen wandte er sich christlich-spirituellen Themen zu, die er radikal neu interpretierte. In intimen Zeichnungen beschäftigte er sich ab 1916 mit dem Thema Liebe und Verrat, sowohl in seiner Auseinandersetzung mit dem Kreuzigungsthema als auch mit der Figur des Bajazzo in der tragikomischen Oper „I Pagliacci“. Kurzvortrag und Führung von Rachel Stern zeigen den Künstler in seinem sozialen und politischen Umfeld. Image above: Fritz Ascher, Im Wald, um 1919. Weisse Gouache und schwarze Tusche über Aquarell und Bleistift auf Papier, 34 x 32,2 cm © Bianca Stock The late expressionist [...]
Rachel Stern2025-03-03T12:08:54-05:00August 12th, 2024|Exhibitions, Past Exhibitions|
The late Expressionist artist Fritz Ascher (1893-1970) survived two world wars and persecution by the National Socialist regime. A close observer of the horrors of World War I and revolutionary unrest, he turned to Christian spiritual themes, which he radically reinterpreted. In intimate drawings, he dealt with the theme of love and betrayal from 1916 onward, both in his exploration of the crucifixion theme and with the figure of Bajazzo in the tragicomic opera "I Pagliacci." Ascher's strong and unique artistic voice is evident not only in his artwork, but also in his poems. These were written when he was no longer allowed to work under National Socialism because of his Jewish roots and as a representative of modernism, [...]
Rachel Stern2021-11-28T14:47:24-05:00October 12th, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, During the first half of the 20th century, the numbers of people migrating were second only to today. What do we know about their experiences? How do artists, with their particular set of sensibilities respond to their own migration? Today, we are proud to announce the virtual project “Identity, Art and Migration” which investigates US immigration of European refugees during the first half of the 20th century through the lens of seven artist case studies: Anni Albers, Friedel Dzubas, Eva Hesse, Rudi Lesser, Lily Renée, Arthur Szyk and Fritz Ascher. In the upcoming weeks, we discuss the seven artists featured in this project, and introduce and discuss interdisciplinary scholarship about “Identity” and “Migration” in two [...]
Rachel Stern2021-09-14T14:51:17-04:00August 26th, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, As the Jewish year comes to a close, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your interest in our work, and for your support. We are grateful to each one of you for being part of our community. So now we need your help. Please support our work with a donation. For specific sponsorship opportunities please contact me directly at [email protected]. DONATE HERE With your donation, you will make sure that artists, whose voice Hitler tried to erase, are acknowledged and remembered. Their artwork is thought about and discussed in its historical context. You’ll help educate about the Holocaust, raise the sensitivity towards contemporary challenges and empower [...]
Rachel Stern2021-09-14T07:20:52-04:00July 6th, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, We invite you to join us TOMORROW: Wednesday, July 7 at 12:00pm EST “Becoming Gustav Metzger: Uncovering the Early Years (1945-1959)” Featuring Nicola Baird Curator at Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, London (UK) Moderator Rachel Stern Director and CEO, The Fritz Ascher Society for Persecuted, Ostracized and Banned Art ZOOM REGISTRATION Gustav Metzger, Antwerp Model, 1949; Oil on canvas. Courtesy of The Gustav Metzger Foundation, image copyright Justin Piperger. Born in Germany to Polish-Jewish orthodox parents in 1926, Gustav Metzger (1926-2017) was one of 10,000 Jewish children evacuated in 1939 to London as part of the Kindertransport. His parents, eldest brother, and maternal grandparents, all perished in [...]
Rachel Stern2021-09-14T06:47:39-04:00May 21st, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, We invite you to join us for a POST SCREENING DISCUSSION Wednesday, May 26 at 12:00pm EST “Undying Love. Stories of Romance, Marriage and Rebirth in Displaced Persons’ Camps” Featuring Helene Klodawsky, Film Director (Canada) and Sabine Rollberg, Expert of Documentary Film (Germany) Moderator Rachel Stern ZOOM REGISTRATION IMAGE: Detail of “Undying Love” Film Poster, 2002 “Undying Love” tells the poignant, enduring, and miraculous love stories of the survivors of World War II. Against the brutalized landscape of post-war Europe, this film focuses on how survivors struggled to reconstruct personal identities and forge intimate relationships. Using searing testimonies, poetic dramatizations, archives and images of romantic love from [...]
Rachel Stern2021-04-25T07:16:48-04:00April 25th, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, Spring, finally! And vaccinations, finally! And yes: we are starting to prepare in-person events and exhibitions! For now, we are all about virtual events, though: The life experience and art of Hungarian born Holocaust survivor Alice Lok Cahana and Indian born Siona Benjamin could not be more different. Join us on Wednesday, April 28 at 5:00 pm EST for “Worlds Apart: Antithetical Jewish Experiences in the Twentieth Century,” when Dr. Meital Orr discusses two recent book publications with author and FAS board member Dr. Ori Z Soltes. Organized by the Center for Jewish Civilization at Georgetown University, the event features our book “Immortality, Memory, Creativity, and Survival: The Arts of Alice Lok Cahana, Ronnie [...]
Rachel Stern2021-03-31T18:24:40-04:00March 31st, 2021|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, What a surprise: The Arolsen Archives own a copy of a name list of Jews released from the concentration camp Sachsenhausen on December 23, 1938 with Fritz Ascher's name! Copy of Doc. No. 4094051#1 in conformity with Arolsen Archives Name List of Jews Released from the Concentration Camp Sachsenhausen on December 23, 1938 I am overwhelmed by your interest in our crowdsourcing initiative “everynamecounts,” in which we are partnering with the Arolsen Archives to help build the largest digital memorial to the victims of Nazism. On our designated project page, you can watch the recording of our Zoom event with Floriane Azoulay (Director) and Giora Zwilling (Deputy Head [...]
