Watercolor of a bridge over a river water with a distant view of the Terezin tower
Extent and Medium
overall: Height: 17.625 inches (44.768 cm) | Width: 13.750 inches (34.925 cm)
pictorial area: Height: 3.250 inches (8.255 cm) | Width: 3.000 inches (7.62 cm)
Archival History
The watercolor was donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1989 by Mark Talisman.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Mark Talisman
Funding Note: The cataloging of this artifact has been supported by a grant from the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
Scope and Content
Watercolor of a bridge over a tree lined river and a view of the Theresienstadt tower in the distance created at Theresienstadt (Terezin) ghetto-labor camp in German occupied Czechoslovakia. The camp opened in November 24, 1941 and was in operation about 3.5 years, until May 2, 1945. The German SS imprisoned certain categories of German, Austrian, and Czech Jews in the ghetto, including many prominent intellectual or cultural figures. There was a large Technical Department where many artists were assigned to work, creating technical drawings, maps, etc. for the camp administration. Many of them secretly created works documenting the actual overcrowded, disease ridden conditions of the camp. The works were buried or hidden behind walls and recovered postwar. Roughly 140,000 Jews were sent to Theresienstadt; nearly 90,000 were sent to camps in the east where most died, and about 33,000 perished in Theresienstadt.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
No restrictions on use
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
Watercolor on paper depicting a bridge spanning a wide stream with the side of a building on the left and trees with brown foliage with black accents in the background. The sky is brown mixed with gradient gray shading. The drawing is in a windowpane mat with a piece of paper taped to the back.
mat, back, on paper, black ink : 18. Lávka / Terezínská věž v pozadí / kresba štĕtcem/ 24 [Bridge, Terezin tower in the background, drawing with a paintbrush] mat, back, bottom right corner, colored pencil : 18.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in art.
- World War, 1939-1945--Concentration camps--Czech Republic--Pictorial works.
- Concentration camps in art--Pictorial works.
- Concentration camp inmates as artists--Czech Republic--Terezin (Ustecky kraj)
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)--Czech Republic--Terezin (Ustecky kraj)
Genre
- Object
- Art