Unspeakable: The Artist as Witness to the Holocaust

Imperial War Museum London
5 September 2008 – 31 August 2009

Press View Thursday 4 September 10.00am – Noon

Prompted by a number of remarkable recent acquisitions, Unspeakable is the first opportunity to see together the different artistic responses to the Nazi persecution of the Jews of Europe, from the Imperial War Museum’s Art collection. The paintings of the British war artists who documented the aftermath of the liberation of camps are shown alongside the art produced by survivors, now living in this country, and a series of contemporary artists.

Unspeakable opens with Morris Kestleman’s 1943 painting Lama Sabachthani (Why have you forsaken me?), a rare British artistic response to news of the atrocities known to be taking place against the Jews in occupied Poland. 

Following the liberation of Belsen in April 1945 British War Artists were brought into close contact with the stark realities of the Nazi concentration camps. Unspeakable will include work by Leslie Coles, Doris Zinkeisen, Eric Taylor and Mary Kessell who responded to the overwhelmingly distressing scenes with images that sought to convey detail and narrative.

At the end of the Second World War a number of Holocaust survivors revisited their experiences and memories through paintings and drawings. Survivors Alicia Melamed Adams, Roman Halter and Edith Birkin who settled in Britain after the war have created work that captures the ongoing legacy of loss, desperation and separation.

The exhibition will conclude with work by contemporary artists who have reacted to their own experience of Holocaust sites. These reactions, from artists a generation removed from the events, are exemplified by Darren Almond’s Border and Paul Ryan’s Concentrate.

For further information please contact Victoria Smith Senior Press Officer, 020 7416 5497 vsmith@iwm.org.uk

Notes to Editors:

THE ART FUND

1. The Art Fund, the UK's leading independent art charity, gave a grant of £22,000 to the Imperial War Museum towards the total cost of £70,000 to acquire 'Memories of the Holocaust' by Roman Halter, which features in the exhibition 'Unspeakable: The Artist as Witness to the Holocaust'. It consists of a series of seven oil paintings which fuse the memories of the artist with images from art history and Hebrew text. Halter was a witness to some of the scenes he represents, whilst others, such as the hanging of his brother, are constructed from reports or from his knowledge of events.
2. The Art Fund offers grants to help UK museums and galleries enrich their collections; campaigns on behalf of museums and their visitors; and promotes the enjoyment of art. 
3. It is entirely funded from public donations and has 80,000 members.  Since 1903 the charity has helped museums and galleries all over the UK secure 860,000 works of art for their collections.
4. Recent achievements include:  helping secure Anthony d'Offay's collection, ARTIST ROOMS, for Tate and National Galleries of Scotland in February 2008 with a grant of £1million; putting together a unique funding package to ensure Dumfries House in Ayrshire and its contents were secured intact for the nation in July 2007; and running the 'Buy a Brushstroke' public appeal which raised over £550,000 to keep Turner's Blue Rigi watercolour in the UK.
5. For more information contact the Press Office on 020 7225 4888 or visit www.artfund.org

ART AT THE IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
The Imperial War Museum holds one of the greatest collections of 20th Century British art in the world. The art collection was first established during the First World War, and is now widely considered to be an unparalleled resource for the study of British art of the two world wars and beyond. For further information on the Art Collection see www.iwm.org.uk

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM LONDON
This London branch of the Imperial War Museum houses exhibits ranging from tanks and aircraft to photographs and personal letters; it also holds film and sound recordings, and some of the twentieth century's best-known paintings. Visitors can explore six floors of exhibitions and displays, including a permanent exhibition dedicated to the Holocaust and a changing programme of special temporary exhibitions.  

Imperial War Museum London
Lambeth Road, London SE1 6HZ
10.00am – 6.00pm
Enquiries 020 7416 5320/5321
www.iwm.org.uk
Press Contact:  Laura McKechan 020 7416 5311 lmckechan@iwm.org.uk 
Victoria Smith 020 7416 5497 vsmith@iwm.org.uk 

IMPERIAL WAR MUSEUM
The national museum of the experiences of people who have lived, fought and died in conflicts involving Britain and the Commonwealth since 1914.
 
The Imperial War Museum is the museum of everyone’s story: the history of modern war and people’s experience of war and wartime life in Britain and the Commonwealth. It is an educational and historical institution responsible for archives, collections and sites of outstanding national importance.
 
The Museum’s five branches include Imperial War Museum London, which houses the award-winning The Holocaust exhibition; the Second World War cruiser HMS Belfast; the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms, housed in Churchill’s secret headquarters below Whitehall; Imperial War Museum Duxford, a world-renowned aviation and heritage complex; and Imperial War Museum North, one of the most talked-about Museums in the UK.