Griselda Pollock on Charlotte Salomon

Charlotte Salomon produced arguably some of the most powerful and philosophical Modernist art works of the twentieth century in an intensive period of creativity between 1940-42 and yet very few people are aware of her. In this lecture, Griselda Pollock asks why this female Jewish artist, working in exile during the Nazi occupation of Europe, has been maligned and forgotten from Jewish history, Feminist history and Art history.

Trained as the sole Jewish art student and one of the few women students in her officially de-Judaized art school during the Third Reich, Salomon created unrivalled work that reflected her own horrific experiences caused by external political events and personal tragedy, including multiple family suicides. Charlotte’s life was sadly cut short when she was sent to Auschwitz, five months pregnant. Yet Pollock asks where does the art she made belong in our stories, in our histories, in our art history? What do we need to do to see what she did? This fascinating lecture seeks to re-frame Salomon as a pioneering artist working in times of adversity and trauma.