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Following its significant stay at Sayle Gallery, Douglas, Isle of Man, to mark the 70th Anniversary of the opening in May 1940 of the Isle of Man internment camps 'Forced Journeys: Artists in Exile in Britain, c. 1933-45' tours to the Williamson Art Gallery and Museum, Birkenhead.
Although internment in the UK was initially limited to “enemy aliens” considered to be of high risk, in May 1940 it was extended to all “enemy aliens” (primarily Germans and Austrians, though by June also Italians) including migrants who for religious, political or artistic reasons were compelled to flee to Britain from Nazi oppression. This included over 300 artists.
The exhibition comprises almost 90 works by some 35 artists of mostly (though not exclusively) German and Austrian origin, and examines the decisive impact of internment on the life and work of a significant group of émigré/refugee artists in exile in Britain during the Second World War. Although there were in total 10 internment camps on the Isle of Man, the main camp for artists was in Hutchinson Square in Douglas, located a short distance away from the Sayle Gallery.
Portrait of Klaus Hinrichsen (Schwitters, 1941)
Art behind Wire (Dachinger, 1941)
The inmates of Hutchinson were admirably creative in difficult conditions. Hellmuth Weissenborn engraved windows with a razor blade, tore up linoleum for linocuts and used a washing mangle as a printing press. German Expressionist Erich Kahn developed a distinct wax stencil printing technique, Hugo Dachinger primed old newspapers with toothpaste and Merz-founder Kurt Schwitters sculpted in porridge. The exhibition reflects this resourcefulness through a diversity of works, including painting, printmaking, ceramics, posters, sculpture and ephemera.
Further highlights include Martin Bloch’s ironical Miracle in the Internment Camp, where herrings are miraculously transformed into fantastical mermaids, and Erich Kahn’s Lecture on the Lawn, capturing the famous ‘camp university’ and signed on the reverse by 22 fellow internees. Hermann Fechenbach’s pair of hand-coloured linocuts contrast opposing treatments of identical views: one bathed in morning light with birds soaring upwards; the other bisected by barbed wire.
Two accomplished Kurt Schwitters portraits: of the handsome, energetic art historian Klaus E Hinrichsen and fellow self-taught artist Fred Uhlman, demonstrate a little-known side of the Dadaist and Merz-founder - the most estabished artist in the exhibition. Schwitters’ work, together with that of fellow Hutchinson internee Ludwig Meidner had been condemned by the Nazis as “degenerate” at the infamous exhibition in Munich in 1937 (along with Chagall, Matisse, Picasso and Van Gogh).
The revised exhibition includes work by 20 artists not shown in London; including sculptor Ernst M Blensdorf’s mahogany panel carved during internment from a 'cannibalised' piano, and a rarely-seen terracotta tile by sculptor/ceramicist Erna Nonnenmacher, inspired by the island’s Celtic Calf of Man Crucifixion. Additionally, a small number of works, including Arthur Segal’s Harbour Scene and a range of pieces by Bauhaus-trained ceramicist Margaret Marks (who was not interned), explore sub-themes of exile and post-internment art.
Works by Klaus Friedeberger and Heinz Henghes (Australia) and Willi Soukop (Canada) address the issue of internment abroad. Finally, Ernst Eisenmayer’s powerful, flatly-painted canvas Strip Poker, which closes the exhibition, explores issues of violence, oppression and the abuse of power, referencing the experience of war and exile.
Works are drawn from a number of public institutions, including the Imperial War Museum, London; Bruton Museum, Somerset; Hatton Gallery, Newcastle; Manx Museum, Isle of Man; the Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent; and the University of Warwick; as well as Ben Uri’s own collection and a number of significant private collections.
A fully illustrated colour catalogue prepared for the 2009 London show accompanies the exhibition. Essay contributors include: Dr. Shulamith Behr (Courtauld Institute), Professor Sander Gilman (Emory, Atlanta), Professor Fran Lloyd (Kingston University), Dr. Jutta Vinzent (Birmingham University), Dr Jonathan Black (Kingston University) and Ulrike Smalley (Imperial War Museum), as well as the curators.
GALLERY ADMISSION / HOURS:
Tuesday - Sunday 10am-5pm; Closed: Monday
Admission Free
Address: Williamson Art Gallery and Museum
Slatey Road,
Birkenhead
CH43 4UE
0151 652 4177
williamsonartgallery@wirral.gov.uk
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