The National Art Museum of Romania will host the exhibition titled “Destinies at crossroads; Hebrew Artists during the Holocaust”, until February 13. The event is organized in partnership with the National Institute for Holocaust Studies in Romania "Elie Wiesel."

You will have the opportunity to get introduced to the works of 16 Hebrew artists who had major contributions in the Romanian introduction of "Art Nouveau", some of them being among the pioneers of Western avant-garde directions. Along with reference names of European modernism like Victor Brauner and Marcel Janco, the exhibition also presents less known artists such as Alex Leon and Marc Lövith Egon. Victims or survivors of oppressive measures, these artists have enjoyed only episodic attention of critics after the Second World War.

Hebrew artists who survived the 1940s have not been regrouped. They have either continued throughout art abroad (Janco, Brauner, Perahim), or have shifted their interests, more or less forced by official directives of the communist regime (Iser, Maxy), while some quit work (Zin, Mina Wepper Byck). The exhibition is organized with the support of the Romanian Ministry of Culture and National Heritage.

Vlad Condurache, vlad@romania-insider.com