The Alpine Retreat

2016

Not on view

Here, the artist pictures the terrace of Adolf Hitler’s Berghof, the mountain retreat in the Obersalzberg, Germany. Against a rapturous view of the Bavarian terrain, Hitler’s mistress (and, briefly, wife) Eva Braun (1912–1945) reclines on a chaise longue with one of her beloved Scotties at her feet, her face a sweep of meaty brushstrokes. Her disfigured visage speaks to the decadence of her tenure at the lodge and her complicity with, if not explicit knowledge of, the horrors undertaken by the Nazis. Ghenie’s interest in historical trauma is deeply tied to his experience growing up in Romania. He was twelve in December 1989, when dictator Nicolae Ceaușescu and his wife, Elena, were tried and executed, ending a long and brutal regime.

Artwork Details

Title: The Alpine Retreat
Artist: Adrian Ghenie (Romanian, born Baia Mare, 1977)
Date: 2016
Medium: Oil on canvas
Dimensions: 8 ft. 10 1/2 in. × 9 ft. 10 1/4 in. (270.5 × 300.4 cm)
Classification: Paintings
Credit Line: Gift of Nicholas Leonidas Goulandris, in celebration of the Museum’s 150th Anniversary, 2017
Object Number: 2017.429
Curatorial Department: Modern and Contemporary Art

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