Gouache from Leben? Oder Theater?: Ein Singspiel (Life? or Theater? An Operetta), #4351
1941–1943
To ward off depression while living as a refugee in France, Charlotte Salomon began telling the story of her life in the form of a drama, in hundreds of gouache paintings. This painting depicts her fictional alter-ego, Charlotte Kann, making drawings. The sunflowers, shoes, fruits, and chair are an homage to Vincent Van Gogh, who, like Salomon, struggled early in his career. Van Gogh is the only artist Salomon mentioned in the notes that she sometimes wrote on the back of the paintings.
Credits
Collection Jewish Historical Museum, Amsterdam. © Charlotte Salomon Foundation. Charlotte Salomon.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 9.
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Related Guide
Visual and Material Culture in the Mid-Twentieth Century
1939–1973
Jewish visual art flourished and diversified in the postwar period, reflecting the social and political transformations taking place in the world.
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