Erna Rosenstein

Last updated
Erna Rosenstein
Erna Rosenstein.jpg
Born(1913-05-17)May 17, 1913
Lviv, Austria-Hungary
DiedNovember 10, 2004(2004-11-10) (aged 91)
Warsaw, Poland
Known forpainter, poet
Erna Rosenstein, Eternity Gives Birth to the Moment Erna Rosenstein, Eternity Gives Birth to the Moment.jpg
Erna Rosenstein, Eternity Gives Birth to the Moment

Erna Rosenstein (May 17, 1913 - November 10, 2004) [1] was a Polish-Jewish painter and Holocaust survivor. She was part of the surrealist movement both as a visual artist and a writer. [2]

Contents

She was associated with the pre-war Kraków Group and helped launch the Second Kraków Group after World War II. [3] [4]

Early life and education

Rosenstein was born to Anna and Maksymillian Rosenstein on May 17, 1913 in Lviv, Austria-Hungary (now Ukraine). [5] [6] Her father was a lawyer and then a judge. [1]

Rosenstein attended school in Kraków where she joined the communist organization, International Red Aid (MOPR). [7]

She studied at the Women’s Academy in Vienna (1932-1934) and the Academy of Fine Arts in Kraków. [7]

The Holocaust

The Rosenstein family was forced into the Lviv Ghetto after the Nazi invasion of Poland. The family escaped the ghetto, but were caught. Rosenstein's parents were murdered in front of her in 1942. [8] Rosenstein was badly injured in the attack. She survived World War II, hiding under various aliases. [9]

Post-war career

After the war, Rosenstein travel to Switzerland, Britain, and France. She met her husband, Polish-Jewish literary critic Artur Sandauer, when in Paris. [7]

She co-founded the Second Kraków Group. [3] In 1955 she was included in the exhibit Nine Artists along with fellow artist Tadeusz Brzozowski, Maria Jarema, Tadeusz Kantor, Jadwiga Maziarska  [ pl ], Kazimierz Mikulski  [ pl ], Jerzy Nowosielski, Jerzy Skarżyński, and Jonasz Stern  [ pl ]. [9] In 1967, a retrospective of her work was held at the Zachęta National Gallery of Art. [2]

During the Polish government antisemitic campaign of in 1968, many Jews were forced from their schools, jobs, and ultimately, the country. [10] [11] This included many artists and friends of Rosenstein's. Her work at this time is noted to reflect this period of heightened antisemitism. [12]

Her work is in the collection of the Art Institute of Chicago [13] In 2021 the Hauser & Wirth Gallery in New York held her first solo exhibition outside of Poland, entitled Once Upon a Time. [14] [15] [16] In 2023 her work was included in the exhibition Action, Gesture, Paint: Women Artists and Global Abstraction 1940-1970 at the Whitechapel Gallery in London. [17]

Death

Rosenstein died on November 10, 2004 in Warsaw, Poland. [9]

Family

Erna and her husband Artur Sandauer had one child, a son named Adam. [18]

Rosenstein's brother, the Austrian professor Paul N. Rosenstein-Rodan went on to become a Boston University professor and economist. He coined the term "underdeveloped countries". [18]

References

  1. 1 2 "After the horrors of the Nazi invasion, a darkly gorgeous fairy tale emerges". The Forward. 2021-10-14. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  2. 1 2 "Erna Rosenstein". AWARE Women artists / Femmes artistes. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  3. 1 2 "Erna Rosenstein, Appeal of the Polish Workers' Party (1942)". Museum of Modern Art in Warsaw. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  4. ↑ "Artists from Krakow. The second Krakow Group - MOCAK". en.mocak.pl. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  5. ↑ "Erna Rosenstein". RKD (in Dutch). Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  6. ↑ "Post-War Artist Erna Rosenstein: Exploring Surrealism, Trauma, and Whimsy". A Women’s Thing. 4 March 2022. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  7. 1 2 3 "Erna Rosenstein | Belvedere Museum Vienna". www.belvedere.at. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  8. ↑ Michalska, Dorota Jagoda (9 March 2023). "Where the Lightnings Have Their Palace: Erna Rosenstein and Global Surrealisms". post. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  9. 1 2 3 "Erna Rosenstein". Culture.pl. Polish Minister of Culture and National Heritage. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  10. ↑ Sharpe, Dana Bash,Abbie (2022-05-01). "In 1968, Poland's communist government forced Jews to leave. Today, the country embraces refugees. | CNN Politics". CNN. Retrieved 2025-12-29.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  11. ↑ "Erna-Rosenstein-Aubrey-Williams" (PDF). Museum of Art in Łódź. 2022.
  12. ↑ Michalska, Dorota Jagoda (2023-03-09). "Where the Lightnings Have Their Palace: Erna Rosenstein and Global Surrealisms". post. Retrieved 2025-12-29.
  13. ↑ "Night (Noc)". Art Institute of Chicago. 1993. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  14. ↑ "Erna Rosenstein". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  15. ↑ Brock, Peter (9 November 2021). "Erna Rosenstein's Dreamlike Forms Resist Interpretation". Frieze (224). Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  16. ↑ Kuspit, Donald. "Donald Kuspit on Erna Rosenstein". Art Forum. Retrieved 28 April 2023.
  17. 1 2 Archives, L. A. Times (2004-11-12). "Erna Rosenstein, 91; Artist Whose Work Evoked Nazi Poland". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2025-12-29.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Erna Rosenstein at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.