Detached analysis and objective measurement are sometimes insufficient when approaching the gnawing questions of the human condition. How do we understand the suffering—personal, ethnic, and global—related to an event like the Holocaust?
In the wake of World War II, survivors and observers, journalists and storytellers attempted to find words to express a response to the tragedy. Just as frequently, artists, musicians, and architects have searched for ways to honor the memory of the dead and reflect on their message for us today.
Read the following article from ArtNews on artists attempting to reconnect audiences grown desensitized to the magnitude of the Holocaust through works that remind and provoke.
Robin Cembalest, “Painting Auschwitz Blue,” ARTnews, January 10, 2013
Case Study Assignment:
Take a few minutes to look over the following artists and works mentioned in the article.
Once you are familiar with the work of each, select ONE to investigate in more detail. Spend 15-20 minutes reviewing materials found in the following links or resources of your own and come to class next time ready to discuss your chosen subject. Keep in mind the questions that Kelly and Jeremy Elliott said we might ask about an artifact or text:
- Who made this, and for what purpose?
- Who is the intended audience?
- What is the artwork trying to achieve?
- What is the context?
Marc Chagall, White Crucifixion (1938)
About the artwork, Art Institute of Chicago
Chicago’s Other Chagall story, WBEZ Chicago Public Media
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Peter Eisenman, Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (2005)
“A Forest of Pillars Recalling the Unimaginable,” New York Times article (2005)
“The Facelessness of Mass Destruction,” Wall Street Journal article (2011)
Expert Perspective: Lisa Saltzman, Annenberg Learner site
Building Germany’s Holocaust Memorial trailer, Blackwood Productions (2012)
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Gustav Metzger, Historic Photographs (2011)
New Museum exhibition description (2011)
New Museum digital archive photos (2011)
Interview with Gustav Metzger, Forum for Holocaust Studies (1998)
The Past is Present, ArtNet review (2011)
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Art Spiegelman, Maus: A Survivors Tale (1991)
Interview with Art Spiegelman, BBC News (2011)
Interview with Art Spiegelman, New York Review of Books (2011)
The Making of Maus, POV on PBS (2008)