Art and Anne Frank Series

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Disintegration (1996)

oils on canvas : 92 x 122 cm

In the foreground is the window frame in Anne's bedroom with a curtain.

The painting is based on a double temporal reflex, for the subject of the painting, Anne, gazes at us, looking outwards as we look on, as we peer in. In this way the painting crystalizes the very moment in which we - viewer and subject - encounter one another across the realm and wide expanse of time, in other worlds, to feel the hope and tragedy entwined.

On the left is the wall of Anne's bedroom, on the right the chestnut tree is replaced by faces of camp inmates. In the turbulent sky pieces of the house, the hiding place of hope, are broken up. The dark shadows of her future creep towards her bedroom wall. From there her face gazes back at us.