Self-portrait

We present this stunning self-portrait thanks to Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam. Please meet Charlotte Salomon—the great artist who was the victim of the Holocaust.

This self-portrait by the young Jewish Berlin artist Charlotte Salomon (Berlin 1917 – Auschwitz 1943) was painted in 1940 in the South of France, where she lived with her grandparents after fleeing Nazi Germany at the end of 1938. There, after the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939, personal drama also unfurled in Charlotte Salomon’s life: her grandmother, who could no longer bear the situation nor her tormented personal history, went mad and committed suicide in March 1940 by jumping out of the window. Meanwhile the family’s hidden history of mental illness and suicide was revealed to Charlotte Salomon. These revelations, the war, and her grandfather’s unbearable company (because he expected her to commit suicide as well), threw Salomon into an existential crisis, which she fought with the use of her multiple artistic talent by painting and recreating her life in her art in her major artwork, Life? or Theatre?, consisting of nearly 800 gouaches.

In 1947, after Salomon’s death in Auschwitz, her artistic legacy was discovered in the South of France. This self-portrait by Salomon, which did not form part of Life? or Theatre?, became an iconic image of the young and gifted artist who left one of the most heartbreaking and expressive artworks of the 20st century.

The Jewish Historical Museum in Amsterdam marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of Charlotte Salomon (1917-1943) with a special exhibition dedicated to her artistic legacy: the artwork Life? Or Theatre? (on display until 25 March 2018).

If you want to learn more, read our article "Charlotte Salomon: Death, Life and Theater" on DailyArtDaily.com