Fritz Ascher Archives - Page 4 of 11

Sep 30, 2020

Kunstpause
Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Rachel Stern2020-10-28T14:29:52-04:00September 30th, 2020|Comments Off on Kunstpause
Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Exhibition curator Julia Diekmann guides through the exhibition. Whether in dramatic context or as individual figure, the clown always plays the role of the outsider, of the one opposite the many. He is laughed at and ridiculed, is the fool, despised, and humiliated, always operating from the margin. In Ascher’s work, the figure of the clown, the Bajazzo, appears first around 1916. It becomes a lifelong interest, expressed in paintings, drawings, lithographs and poems. Based on the opera I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), which was popular in the 1920s, Ascher creates both dramatic scenes of the tragic love burlesque and studies of the Bajazzo, the Pagliaccio or clown as a single figure. The intensity in the artistic expression of the figure, [...]

Sep 30, 2020

Bilder im Gespräch: Bajazzo
Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Rachel Stern2020-10-28T14:58:31-04:00September 30th, 2020|Events, Past Events|Comments Off on Bilder im Gespräch: Bajazzo
Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Exhibition curator Julia Diekmann guides through the exhibition. Whether in dramatic context or as individual figure, the clown always plays the role of the outsider, of the one opposite the many. He is laughed at and ridiculed, is the fool, despised, and humiliated, always operating from the margin. In Ascher’s work, the figure of the clown, the Bajazzo, appears first around 1916. It becomes a lifelong interest, expressed in paintings, drawings, lithographs and poems. Based on the opera I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), which was popular in the 1920s, Ascher creates both dramatic scenes of the tragic love burlesque and studies of the Bajazzo, the Pagliaccio or clown as a single figure. The intensity in the artistic expression of the figure, [...]

Sep 29, 2020

Twitter Takeover @Ascher_Society
Matthew R. Wilson, PhD
“Commedia dell’Arte and the Clown in Popular Culture”

Rachel Stern2020-09-29T20:08:44-04:00September 29th, 2020|Events, Send in the Clowns|Comments Off on Twitter Takeover @Ascher_Society
Matthew R. Wilson, PhD
“Commedia dell’Arte and the Clown in Popular Culture”

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 [...]

Sep 29, 2020

“The Clown on Stage”
Roundtable featuring
Matthew R. Wilson, Ori Z. Soltes, Tricia Manuel / “Pricilla Mooseburger”
Moderated by Elizabeth Berkowitz

Rachel Stern2020-10-22T00:35:30-04:00September 29th, 2020|Events, Past Events, Send in the Clowns|Comments Off on “The Clown on Stage”
Roundtable featuring
Matthew R. Wilson, Ori Z. Soltes, Tricia Manuel / “Pricilla Mooseburger”
Moderated by Elizabeth Berkowitz

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 [...]

Sep 17, 2020

John Heartfield (1891-1968)
His Political Engagement and Private Life in London
Rosa von der Schulenburg, Berlin

Rachel Stern2020-11-04T15:01:37-05:00September 17th, 2020|Events, Lectures, Past Events|Comments Off on John Heartfield (1891-1968)
His Political Engagement and Private Life in London
Rosa von der Schulenburg, Berlin

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 [...]

Sep 17, 2020

FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

Rachel Stern2020-09-17T22:58:37-04:00September 17th, 2020|Newsletter|Comments Off on FRITZ ASCHER SOCIETY Newsletter #35, September 2020

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 [...]

Sep 16, 2020

Painting as an Act of Resistance.
The artist Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944)
Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Osnabrück

Elizabeth Berkowitz2020-10-07T15:08:59-04:00September 16th, 2020|Lectures|Comments Off on Painting as an Act of Resistance.
The artist Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944)
Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Osnabrück

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 [...]

Sep 16, 2020

Dance under the Swastika:
Mary Wigman and Gyp Schlicht (1917-2015)
Sabine Rollberg, Freiburg

Elizabeth Berkowitz2020-09-16T19:55:58-04:00September 16th, 2020|Lectures|Comments Off on Dance under the Swastika:
Mary Wigman and Gyp Schlicht (1917-2015)
Sabine Rollberg, Freiburg

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 [...]

Sep 9, 2020

“Narr der ich bleib…”
Poems and Artwork by Fritz Ascher
Preview of “Poesiealbum” by Märkischer Verlag

Rachel Stern2020-10-28T14:30:51-04:00September 9th, 2020|Comments Off on “Narr der ich bleib…”
Poems and Artwork by Fritz Ascher
Preview of “Poesiealbum” by Märkischer Verlag

Reading of Poems by Stephan Weigelin and Reflexion on Artwork by Julia Diekmann The event previews a "Poesiealbum" of Fritz Ascher’s poems, which will be published in December 2020 by Märkischer Verlag Wilhelmshorst, in the series “Ostracized Poets – Burned Books.” "Fritz Ascher's poetic voice rises at a time when his artistic voice is forced to fall silent. Fear of death, hunger and immobility, isolation and loneliness are his daily reality. In this situation he writes poems in which he shares his thoughts and innermost feelings and creates unpainted pictures. Ascher's poems are authentic, tender and powerful, and live from the expressive, creative use of language." Rachel Stern "... we can now safely include him in our canon of [...]

Sep 9, 2020

Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Rachel Stern2020-09-11T08:40:26-04:00September 9th, 2020|Events|Comments Off on Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Exhibition curator Julia Diekmann guides through the exhibition. Whether in dramatic context or as individual figure, the clown always plays the role of the outsider, of the one opposite the many. He is laughed at and ridiculed, is the fool, despised, and humiliated, always operating from the margin. In Ascher’s work, the figure of the clown, the Bajazzo, appears first around 1916. It becomes a lifelong interest, expressed in paintings, drawings, lithographs and poems. Based on the opera I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), which was popular in the 1920s, Ascher creates both dramatic scenes of the tragic love burlesque and studies of the Bajazzo, the Pagliaccio or clown as a single figure. The intensity in the artistic expression of the figure, [...]

Sep 3, 2020

Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Rachel Stern2020-09-30T06:38:57-04:00September 3rd, 2020|Events, Past Events|Comments Off on Guided Tour through the Exhibition
“The Loner. Clowns in the Art of Fritz Ascher”
by Curator Julia Diekmann, Höxter (Germany)

Exhibition curator Julia Diekmann guides through the exhibition. Whether in dramatic context or as individual figure, the clown always plays the role of the outsider, of the one opposite the many. He is laughed at and ridiculed, is the fool, despised, and humiliated, always operating from the margin. In Ascher’s work, the figure of the clown, the Bajazzo, appears first around 1916. It becomes a lifelong interest, expressed in paintings, drawings, lithographs and poems. Based on the opera I Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo (1857-1919), which was popular in the 1920s, Ascher creates both dramatic scenes of the tragic love burlesque and studies of the Bajazzo, the Pagliaccio or clown as a single figure. The intensity in the artistic expression of the figure, [...]

Aug 31, 2020

Painting as an Act of Resistance.
The artist Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944)
Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Osnabrück

Rachel Stern2020-10-07T15:06:33-04:00August 31st, 2020|Events, Past Events|Comments Off on Painting as an Act of Resistance.
The artist Felix Nussbaum (1904-1944)
Anne Sibylle Schwetter, Osnabrück

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 [...]