Wols, an antifascist German living in France, was nonetheless incarcerated as an alien by the French government from 1939–40. This watercolor was made shortly after he was released. It reflects his wartime anxieties: a mutilated figure holding an olive branch flies toward an amalgam of beings, akin to an airborne, Surrealist Raft of the Medusa.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Untitled
Artist:Wols (German, Berlin 1913–1951 Paris)
Date:ca. 1940–41
Medium:Watercolor and opaque watercolor and pen and black ink on blue paper, mounted on paper
Dimensions:9 1/2 × 12 1/4 in. (24.1 × 31.1 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection, Gift of Muriel Kallis Newman, 2006
Object Number:2006.32.65
Inscription: Signed (lower right, in pen and black ink): WOLS
[Richard L. Feigen Gallery, Chicago, until 1960; sold on December 1, 1960 to Newman]; Muriel Kallis Newman, Chicago (1960–2006; her gift to MMA)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "An American Choice: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection," May 21–September 27, 1981, unnumbered cat. (p. 112).
Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago. "Dada and Surrealism in Chicago Collections," December 1, 1984–January 27, 1985, unnumbered cat. (p. 226).
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Abstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," September 17, 2007–February 3, 2008, extended to March 2, 2008, no. 12.
New York. Drawing Center. "The Pencil Is a Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists," October 11, 2019–January 5, 2020, unnumbered cat. (p. 138).
Christine Mehring inAbstract Expressionism and Other Modern Works: The Muriel Kallis Steinberg Newman Collection in The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Ed. Gary Tinterow, Lisa Mintz Messinger, and Nan Rosenthal. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York, 2007, pp. 44–46, no. 12, ill. (color).
Duncan Tomlin inThe Pencil is a Key: Drawings by Incarcerated Artists. Exh. cat., The Drawing Center. New York, 2019, pp. 59, 138, ill. (color).
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