From 15 June until 16 September 2007 the Print Room in
the Jewish Historical Museum Amsterdam will be showing work by the
painter Charlotte Salomon. The exhibition consists of independent
sketches as well as painted preliminary studies for gouaches that
Charlotte made for her large work titled Life? or Theatre?
Much of the work in this exhibition has never been shown or
published before.
Between 1940 and 1942 Charlotte Salomon made a series of paintings
on at least 1,325 sheets. She numbered almost eight hundred of
these and provided them with a short piece of text and often a
musical fragment. This forms the work Life? or Theatre?
There are thus several hundred unnumbered sheets not belonging to
the official series and indeed virtually unknown. Some of these
take the form of carefully- executed paintings and it is not clear
whether or not Charlotte intended ultimately to include them in her
series. But in other cases there can be no doubt that she rejected
them: she has pasted strips of paper across the mouth, the hands or
the eyes of the figures in the paintings.
The exhibition Work in Progress, held this summer in the
Jewish Historical Museum Amsterdam, shows around one hundred
paintings not included in the 'canon' of Life? or Theatre?
This hitherto unknown work offers us a glimpse backstage into the
artist's workroom. By comparing these sheets with the numbered
pieces we gain considerable insight into Charlotte's style and
method of working. We see how she experiments with colour and
composition, for instance in her positioning of figures in the
paintings and adding of textual passages to the picture.
Also on show in the exhibition is an exceptional acquisition: the
drawing by Charlotte Salomon of her grandmother, titled
Grossmama, which she made when living in the south of
France. This portrait, which has long been missing, shows
Charlotte's grandmother asleep in her chair, and was last exhibited
in the first presentation of Charlotte's work in the Fodor Museum
Amsterdam, in 1961.
Running simultaneously with the exhibition of Charlotte's work in
the Jewish Historical Museum, is the exhibition Sarah Bernhardt: the
Art of High Drama, which explores the life of the great
French actress (1844-1923) and first international superstar.
For visuals and/or further information kindly
contact the Communications Department of the Museum
T (+31) 020 5310370
F (+31) 020 5310311
E Communications
Department