Rachel Stern2020-09-29T20:08:44-04:00September 29th, 2020|Events, Send in the Clowns|
Twitter @Ascher_Society Actor and theater historian Matthew R. Wilson takes over the FAS Twitter account to discuss the history of the Commedia dell’Arte, key themes in the genre, and how the Commedia dell’Arte has impacted popular culture. Submit your questions in advance by writing to info@fritzaschersociety.org Part of "Send in the Clowns," an interactive two-week digital initiative, which explores the clown as a figure between tragedy and comedy, between self- identification and stage--a character designed to (literally) mask the performer’s true feelings behind a facade of happiness. “Send in the Clowns” uses the prominence of the “clown” figure in Fritz Ascher’s work as a lens through which to explore the duality of the clown both historically and today. Generously sponsored [...]
Rachel Stern2020-10-22T00:35:30-04:00September 29th, 2020|Events, Past Events, Send in the Clowns|
Watch the recording of this event HERE. Roundtable featuring Matthew R. Wilson Director (SDC), Actor (AEA, SAG-AFTRA), and Fight Director (SAFD, SDC), as well as a scholar and playwright Ori Z. Soltes Teaching Professor at Center for Jewish Civilization, Georgetown University, Washington D.C. Tricia Manuel / "Pricilla Mooseburger" the Clown Tricia Manuel is the unmistakable Pricilla Mooseburger! Moderated by Elizabeth Berkowitz Art Historian and Digital Interpretation Manager, The Fritz Ascher Society in New York How do we define “the clown,” historically, in art, and today, in practice? What is the appeal of the clown in performance, and how has the clown subject impacted popular culture? This roundtable pools the expertise from a diversity of fields to place Fritz Ascher’s interest in “the [...]
Rachel Stern2020-11-04T15:01:37-05:00September 17th, 2020|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. Lecture featuring Rosa von der Schulenburg, Head of the Art Collection of the Academy of Arts in Berlin Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York John Heartfield (1891-1968) was a German visual artist who pioneered the use of art as a political weapon. This presentation starts with preliminary remarks about John Heartfield’s bequest in the Akademie der Künste in Berlin and shows how it is accessible nowadays. A short introduction of how all began follows, showing the background of the birth of Heartfield’s political photo-montages (World War I, Dada, Communist Party, Willi Münzenberg’s Die Arbeiter-Illustrierte-Zeitung in short AIZ), glances at Heartfield’s first exile stage in Prague and then focuses on [...]
Rachel Stern2020-09-17T22:58:37-04:00September 17th, 2020|Newsletter|
Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany Dear Friends, The Jewish New Year is upon us, and it feels as if the New keeps coming. The exhibition “The Loner. Clowns in Fritz Ascher's Art (1893-1970)” at Forum Jacob Pins in Höxter, Germany was opened with an event following social distancing rules, my video greeting and a concert in the courtyard. The exhibition is on view until November 29, and I very much encourage you to see it (more information HERE). In the exhibition, Ascher’s depictions of clowns are contrasted with depictions of nature, which dominated his post-Holocaust work. Inspired by the nearby Grunewald, the artist created vivid landscapes and powerful close-ups of the sun, trees and flowers, which [...]
Elizabeth Berkowitz2020-10-07T15:08:59-04:00September 16th, 2020|Lectures|
WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. Lecture featuring Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Curator of the Felix Nussbaum Collection in the Felix Nussbaum House in the Osnabrück Museum Quarter, Osnabrück Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York The German-Jewish artist Felix Nussbaum (1904 Osnabrück - 1944 Auschwitz) started a promising career in Berlin around 1930, which ended abruptly when the National Socialists came to power in 1933. Years in exile in Italy and Belgium followed. In 1942 Nussbaum went into hiding in Brussels. The artist's last paintings were created here from June 1943 until shortly before his arrest in June 1944. A little later he was murdered in Auschwitz. Like hardly any other painter [...]
Elizabeth Berkowitz2020-09-16T19:55:58-04:00September 16th, 2020|Lectures|
View a recording of this event HERE. EXCLUSIVE: Watch Annette von Wangenheim's German language documentary film "Tanz unterm Hakenkreuz" from 2003 HERE. Big thanks to Annette von Wangenheim and Sabine Rollberg for making this possible! Gyp Schlicht speaks at 38:02 min. Lecture featuring Sabine Rollberg, Professor Emeritus of Documentary Film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and former ARTE Representative and ARTE Commissioning Editor for WDR Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York In times of Nazi Germany, becoming an artist was not the typical career path for women. The „deutsche Frau“ was supposed to represent the “good housewife”, as a mother of many children, not wearing make-up and fancy dresses. The Nazis were refuting [...]
Rachel Stern2020-10-07T15:06:33-04:00August 31st, 2020|Events, Past Events|
WATCH THE RECORDING OF THIS EVENT HERE. Lecture featuring Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Curator of the Felix Nussbaum Collection in the Felix Nussbaum House in the Osnabrück Museum Quarter, Osnabrück Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York The German-Jewish artist Felix Nussbaum (1904 Osnabrück - 1944 Auschwitz) started a promising career in Berlin around 1930, which ended abruptly when the National Socialists came to power in 1933. Years in exile in Italy and Belgium followed. In 1942 Nussbaum went into hiding in Brussels. The artist's last paintings were created here from June 1943 until shortly before his arrest in June 1944. A little later he was murdered in Auschwitz. Like hardly any other painter [...]
Rachel Stern2020-08-20T21:32:19-04:00August 20th, 2020|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, What a strange summer this is. But I have exciting news of some degree of normalcy: an exhibition in Germany! This is no small feast in these times, and I am thankful to my co-curator Julia Diekmann for her flexibility and creativity in co-organizing the exhibition. Who would have thought that the largest hurdle is getting the artwork out of the locked down campus of Richmond University? In the end it all worked - our shipper Cadogan Tate had just taken up operation again and flight schedules for art opened up, the drawings, which have never been shown before will be matted and framed practically overnight, the artwork will be hanged as fast as it probably never [...]
Rachel Stern2020-09-25T07:28:27-04:00August 19th, 2020|Events, Lectures, Past Events|
View a recording this event HERE EXCLUSIVE: Watch Annette von Wangenheim's German language documentary film "Tanz unterm Hakenkreuz" from 2003 HERE. Big thanks to Annette von Wangenheim and Sabine Rollberg for making this possible! Gyp Schlicht speaks at 38:02 min. Lecture featuring Sabine Rollberg, Professor Emeritus of Documentary Film at the Academy of Media Arts in Cologne and former ARTE Representative and ARTE Commissioning Editor for WDR Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York In times of Nazi Germany, becoming an artist was not the typical career path for women. The „deutsche Frau“ was supposed to represent the “good housewife”, as a mother of many children, not wearing make-up and fancy dresses. The Nazis were refuting what [...]
Rachel Stern2020-11-29T20:32:16-05:00August 7th, 2020|Events, Past Events|
View a recording of the event HERE. Lecture featuring Aya Soika, Professor of Art History at Bard College Berlin, Germany Moderated by Rachel Stern, Executive Director of the Fritz Ascher Society in New York The German Expressionist Emil Nolde is arguably one of most prominent victims of the Nazis' art politics: No other painter had so many works confiscated, or was presented as prominently in the show „Degenerate Art,“ which opened in Munich in July 1937. Yet, his position differs fundamentally from that of many other artists who will be presented in the Fritz Ascher Society's lecture series "From Flight to Fight": Nolde was not just a victim but also a loyal supporter of the regime whose world views were radicalized by antisemitic propaganda in [...]
Rachel Stern2020-07-15T15:54:15-04:00July 9th, 2020|Newsletter|
Dear Friends, Antisemitism and racism are not the same. But they are both based on the lack of regard to the values this country was founded on: freedom, justice and equality. As a proud immigrant, I deeply believe in these values, admire the dynamic energy of this country, and hope that this unprecedented time helps speed up the process towards realizing these ideals of freedom, justice and equality for all. As an individual and as the executive director of the Fritz Ascher Society, I strive to do my part in this process. The Fritz Ascher Society tells the stories of artists, who lived and worked in Germany, as the country abandoned its first and very fragile democracy and instead [...]
Rachel Stern2020-06-02T16:23:50-04:00May 30th, 2020|Newsletter|
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. [...]
