Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Holocaust
- The Cambridge History Of The Holocaust
- The Cambridge History of the Holocaust
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Abbreviations
- Additional material
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume IV
- Part I History
- Part II Geography
- Part III Culture and Ideas
- Part IV Culture and Fields
- 18 Holocaust Commemoration and Memorials
- 19 Holocaust Museums
- 20 The Holocaust and the Medical Professions
- 21 Holocaust Literature
- 22 The Holocaust and the Visual Arts: Perplexity, Meanings
- 23 The Holocaust and Film
- 24 The Future of the Holocaust – Timely Reflections
- Index
- References
22 - The Holocaust and the Visual Arts: Perplexity, Meanings
from Part IV - Culture and Fields
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 May 2025
By
Book contents
- The Cambridge History of the Holocaust
- The Cambridge History Of The Holocaust
- The Cambridge History of the Holocaust
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Maps
- Contributors to Volume IV
- Abbreviations
- Additional material
- General Editor’s Introduction
- Introduction to Volume IV
- Part I History
- Part II Geography
- Part III Culture and Ideas
- Part IV Culture and Fields
- 18 Holocaust Commemoration and Memorials
- 19 Holocaust Museums
- 20 The Holocaust and the Medical Professions
- 21 Holocaust Literature
- 22 The Holocaust and the Visual Arts: Perplexity, Meanings
- 23 The Holocaust and Film
- 24 The Future of the Holocaust – Timely Reflections
- Index
- References
Summary
The question concerning the adequacy of mimetic representation raised by the Holocaust, of how to best convey the vast suffering, the enormity of extermination, the tragedy of loss, has profoundly shaped the history of the visual arts since 1945. Focusing mainly on painting and sculpture, this chapter argues that Holocaust art largely rejected the turn to abstraction otherwise so characteristic of postwar modernism, in favor of an ongoing engagement with figurative representation. For many artists, this was a way to retain the human dimension of the Holocaust. The shared an underlying ethical and aesthetic commitment to the human figure with its myriad complexities and configurations. At the same time, they sought to avoid falling into the trap of kitsch and sentimentality. This created ineluctable aesthetic dilemmas – to combine beauty and terror – that led to a series of heterogeneous responses, not a “school of art,” but a struggle with aesthetics in the face of catastrophe.
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- The Cambridge History of the Holocaust , pp. 510 - 538Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2025
References
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