Felix Nussbaum - The Holocaust Artist

[Music] apocalyptic landscapes nightmarish scenes of war and cruelty faces of despair and malevolence these are the paintings an artwork of an incredibly rare sort a type of art that is brutally heartbreaking and provides art with arguably one of the most tangible insights into human suffering during the horrors of the second world war these other paintings of the german-jewish surreal artist felix nussbaum who during the midst of the second world war would tragically fall victim to one of humanity's darkest errors in history and capture his suffering on canvas what is now known as the holocaust and mass genocide of millions of innocent jewish europeans carried out by nazi germany is something that still bitterly haunts the minds of many people even to this day there is just something particularly palpable about witnessing the horrors that these people experienced through the art of paint that truly delivers the essence of one person living amongst suffering victims of such an event his surreal style of painting heightens specific feelings and perspectives of the concentration camps through metaphoric imagery exaggerated features and warped perspectives as if storytelling from a perspective of a dream or a nightmare the fate of felix naspelm and his family consists of the desperate efforts to find shelter and refuge on foreign soil a terribly sad story of a history of one family among many that found itself in the middle of a hopeless and doomed situation eventually entering auschwitz and sadly neither him or any of his family would ever leave alive his paintings not only tell his story but from a certain perspective the story of many other victims of the holocaust and what it was like to experience such horrific torture and violence by nazi germany this is the story and artwork of felix nussbaum [Music] felix nusbaum was born on december 11th 1904 in usnblock in germany his father philip nussbaum was a world war one veteran and german patriots before the rise of the nazis he was also an aspiring painter in his youth but due to financial reasons philips art endeavors would eventually dwindle in pursuit of other jobs to provide a steadier income that would not hinder his passion and interest for art however especially after his son felix was born as it's documented that philip eagerly encouraged felix during his childhood to pursue art as well and hone in on his talents as felix grew older philip was still a well-respected world war one veteran and proud german patriots that is until a sleeping giant a new regime that was close to seizing power over the country and parts of europe would force him to surrender his membership in the veteran organization he was a member of in his parting remarks he made the following statements for the last time dear comrades in arms i salute you as a loyal soldier and if i am again called to the flag i am ready and willing during this time felix was a student in rome in an institution part of the berlin academy of the arts eventually gaining an impressive and lucrative scholarship however by january in 1933 the nazi regime had taken his very first steps towards seizing power and adolf hitler was now appointed as the german chancellor barely a few months later hitler's minister of propaganda joseph goebbels would even visit the artistic elite and lectured them on the fuhrer's artistic doctrine as follows the aryan race and heroism are the main themes that the nazi artist is to develop after felix nussbaum learned of this he began to believe much to his dismay that there was no place for him as an artist or a jew within the confines of this new rising fascist doctrine he was forced to leave rome by early may that same year and his scholarship was revoked a short time later sadly though this would only be the beginning of felix's troubles from here onwards in this crude yet powerful work of his titled the great disaster created in 1939 felix heavily expresses his state of mind in the minds of other jewish communities during its rise of fascism in europe in the background we can see ruined buildings against a haunting night-like sky with both the sun and moon apparently illuminating the apocalyptic world below many bodies of the dead and suffering can be seen scattered everywhere in and amongst the rubble in ruins in the foreground we can see the three figures crawling helplessly on the floor the woman in front is completely naked with a woman behind her looking as if she's pleading towards the heavens in the left foreground i find these two figures particularly interesting the one in front has large eyes that look almost as if he is crying black tears and is covering his mouth the figure behind looks more feminine in appearance has her hand on her forehead in an expression of shock or disbelief in what she is witnessing everything about this piece despite how different it appears in stark contrast to his usual style is just so gripping in its execution its simplified technique almost adds more to the message that he is conveying as it's apparent the focus of his work was to unleash his fears his frustrations and his sense of aboding about the outbreak of a war means the destruction of european culture a year after felix's scholarship was revoked his father and his mother rachel left their hometown of osnabluk along with other jewish inhabitants leaving felix in the care of his older brother justice as they would make their way to switzerland felix would meet his parents again in a small town on the italian riviera during his period it's said that he was at his happiest during the summer that he spent with his family as well as his companion and future wife felka playtek this is possibly indicated by a lot of the bright and vibrant colors that he would use in his paintings during this time such as this tranquil painting of his of an italian harbour surrounded by cypress trees produced that very year called the beach at rappalo this happy period would prove to have a tragic bitter taste however as this would be the last time felix would see his parents again who would later give in to their homesick feelings for their homeland of germany and after returning there were eventually deported to auschwitz and murdered despite his parents eager urged to return to germany felix would objectivist profusely a rare trait for him in spite of his unfaltering respect for his parents as his parents returned to germany he and felker remained away first traveling to paris in january 1935 and then to the belgian resort town of ostend it would be several months later when felix and felker would settle in brussels and then marry in 1937. sadly during this year felix's brother justice was forced to emigrate the nussbaum family's hometown of osnabruck when all jewish businesses in the area were arionized justice would flee with his wife and infant daughter to the netherlands where he along with other forced migrants managed to start up a scrap metal company back in oznabluk where felix's parents were still residing the situation was rapidly going from bad to worse synagogues were burned to the ground jewish homes were looted and all jewish men were taken to dachau a concentration camp based in southern germany in may 1939 felix's parents decided once again to leave germany fleeing this time to amsterdam to reunite with justice the sanctuary of belgium and the netherlands would only be brief however as by may 1940 both countries were soon occupied by nazi germany felix was eventually found and arrested in his apartment and sent along with other immigrants to the saints cyprian camp in southern france it would be during this time that felix would sense the terrifying reality of what the world around him had truly become this sense of doom would be reflected in this nightmarish painting of his called the camp synagogue produced in 1940 and completed the following year his painting again presents us with a dark apocalyptic landscape and atmosphere gray and black sky in the background along with the flock of ravens or crows featured also are five people cloaked in prayer shawls entering a crude shack that serves as a makeshift synagogue this makeshift place of prayer was an actual construction completed by the jewish captives within the concentration camp of saint cyprien where felix was held captive the cloaked man that we can see standing alone some experts believed to be felix himself who was ambivalent about his jewish identity like many other young men of his age at this time what i find particularly interesting is the very specific objects felix has chosen to half submerge into the ground that we can see in the forefront of the painting we can see a singular shoe some barbed wire an empty tin can and a bone all these objects could be symbolic in just how cruel the conditions of a camp were the lost shoe could indicate the lack of appropriate clothing that the captives were provided the empty tin can could be symbolic of a lack of fresh food and water the barbed wire indicating the hopelessness of escape and finally the bone almost going without saying symbolizing death felix would in fact manage to escape however and would complete this painting in brussels after he had started the rough drawing within the camp itself returning us again to the isolated figure cloaked in the prayer shawl on the right should this actually be felix nusbaum this could be an incredibly moving representation of his acceptance and pride of his jewish heritage despite his apparent ambivalence during what was once considered to be such a harrowing period of doom and despair felix would only feel a closer sense of belonging to the jewish people and his jewish roots another painting that could symbolize this could be his more well-known painting titled self-portrait with jewish identity cards completed in 1943 the year before he was sent to auschwitz in which felix is looking directly at the viewer revealing the star of david behind the lapel of his coats and in his other hand holding the jewish identity card again facing towards the viewer this could indicate a sense of jewish solidarity and pride for his faith amongst the chaos or it could as others have theorized be more a representation of persecution and degradation imposed upon jews by the nazis whatever its true meaning this heartbreaking expression of alertness and fear in felix's eyes is unbelievably striking and regularly features in many more of his self-portraits during this period after three grueling months in the camp and eventually escaping felix was once again on the run he made his way back to brussels to be reunited with his wife felix and his wife felker were now living a life of hiding with virtually no source of income felix would have close friends in belgium however who would provide him and his wife with supplies food and clothes and would even provide felix with art supplies and a studio space this unfortunately could not last though as felix lacked any legal documentation or residency papers and was constantly at risk of one day being discovered by nazi troops felix would continue to be constantly on the move avoiding resting in any one place for too long yet simultaneously perfecting his artistic craft and producing his paintings on the horizon however the fate of him and his family was about to be sealed completely [Music] by august 1943 the protection given to the employees of justice nusbaum's scrap metal business was revoked he his wife their daughter marianne and the nurse-bound parents were arrested in their hideout apartments and sent to the westerbork transit camp based in the northeast netherlands a camp that was essentially a staging facility for jewish captives before being sent to the concentration camps and eventually a long torturous journey to their end began for felix's parents philip and rachel in february 1944 when they were deported from westerborg to the extermination camp of auschwitz that same year in july felix and his wife felker were apprehended in their hideout at the time and sent to a camp in mecklen later that month they were deported to auschwitz where felix was murdered on the 9th of august 1944 his older brother justice would follow their parents to auschwitz from westerborg the following month in september three days later herta justice's wife and felix's sister-in-law as well as marianne the only daughter of justice and niece to felix were also murdered at auschwitz finally in october justice the last surviving member of the nusbaum family at the time was sent to the stutthof camp where he would eventually die of exhaustion some two months later [Music] this painting named triumph of death was completed by felix nussbaum in 1944 just four months before he was murdered by the nazis and outfits during the time felix painted this he already knew that he and his family were doomed and every sense of that morbid hopelessness can be witnessed in this work quite significantly represented once again by an apocalyptic backdrop of debris ruins and destruction with a family of skeletal beings dancing on the ruins playing musical instruments in the sky can be seen with disturbing faces of kites floating in the wind but haunting stares and expressions of these kites feel almost as if their demonic entities scanning the ground below for any victims that may cross their path the various broken objects that we see on the ground in and amongst the debris our collection of some things from felix's everyday life such as his wife's tailored dummy or his father's car the withering organ player that we can see near the center some have theorized to be felix himself as he bears some of his features that also appear in his other painting from the previous year called the organ grinder a painting believed to be an alter ego of felix with this in mind the painting that we see here of a family of skeletons dancing and performing atop a pile of broken treasures of a nurse bounds with supposedly felix himself amongst them leaves such a powerful indicator into what this painting and the title of a painting could possibly represent felix nussbaum and his family fell victim to the cruelest people that the world had ever seen during the time when the war had claimed so many innocent lives for so long it must have truly felt like the end of a world to so many people it is little wonder that felix's later artwork would encapsulate so many apocalyptic themes with such little hope thankfully though his life was tragically taken from him his art survived as well as his thoughts and commentary on what these innocent people endured everything about felix nussbaum's art is at its purest and most honest hiding nothing from the comforted the undisturbed and the unsuspecting viewers to ensure that they are left feeling quite the opposite in hopes to truly express how it felt to live such a terrifying existence this gripping legacy that is left behind still echoes in people's hearts to this day by the 1980s the hometown of felix nussbaum uznabluk would embrace and celebrate him as a local hero and native son eventually opening a local gallery in 1998 entirely dedicated to him called the felix nussbaum house where most of his paintings now currently reside there is also dedicated exhibitions here that focus on intolerance and racism thank you so much for watching this video felix nussbaum and his artwork was recommended to me by one of my viewers in an email thank you so much for all your suggestions i really appreciate the fact that the content on this channel can become a collaborative effort and that we can all share ideas like this the story was particularly sad for me to research but i hope that has been educational and i hope that it's inspired some of you to check out more of his incredibly powerful paintings especially the ones i didn't get a chance to talk about before i go as always i would like to present the segment of my videos called artist's corner where i get to present some art sent in by one of my viewers today's independent artist i would like to share with you today is another surreal artist from sweden named gustav hedin experiencing horrific nightmares since he was a child these dreams would leave a significance lifelong impact on gustave from the age of 16 he's experienced these nightmares on a more regular basis sometimes up to four or five times a week with sleep deprivation often leaving him questioning if he's asleep or awake forcing himself to drop out of school due to depression and anxiety gustaf pursued an escape and purpose through painting from his experience of going through countless horrifying dreams gustaf was able to express his inner thoughts and visions through the paintings we see here now painting has been a true saving grace for gustav helping him in many ways to have better control over his nightmares and how to deal with them when they next creep up on him i think it's amazing how intimate the view into his head is through the paintings that he creates as he says a lot of his thoughts cannot be described in just words so in a very real sense these paintings are the clearest picture into what gustav has experienced and how he sees the world the fact that these paintings are a therapeutic outlet for him makes his art even more powerful to me if you'd like to see more from gustaf please follow the links that you see here and in the description below and show him some much deserved supports if you'd also like to feature in my artist's corner segment please send me an email to blinddweller gmail.com with examples of your art and a bit about yourself for a chance to feature in one of my videos i've also recently started to use twitter so feel free to contact me on there as well if you like that's all for me today thank you for watching and thank you to my top tier channel members this month garrett greathouse ken b and carol hartong your donations are much appreciated and help keep these videos coming see you in the next video soon bye for now [Music]

Channel: Blind Dweller

Views: 71,585

Keywords: war art, felix nussbaum, blind dweller, disturbing art, art documentary, surreal art, surrealism, world war 2 art, creepy art, art history, analysis, breakdown, scary, spooky, horror, internet horror, sad, war documentary, world war 2, holocaust

Id: h4OTIjTJeGo

Length: 20min 13sec (1213 seconds)

Published: Sat Jan 08 2022