Reflections on Else Lasker-SchülerThematic Series
When Steffa Reis visited the Else Lasker-Schüler Foundation in Wuppertal, Germany, in the early 1990s, she became interested in the persona of Else Lasker-Schüler and all she represented – as a woman, a poetess and author, a Jew and an exile.
The 32 works of this series (created 1992-1993) include portraits of the poetess at different ages, which were executed in pastel on enlarged photocopies of photographs. Another group of works relates to several of her poems, and a third group was inspired by “My Blue Piano” (1934) in particular. In this poem, which is both lyrical and political, the piano alludes to death and cessation. Consequently, in Steffa Reis’ series, this icon of western culture becomes a metaphor for loss and dissolution, for a world fading away, and the destruction and exile wrought by the Nazis.
When Steffa Reis visited the Else Lasker-Schüler Foundation in Wuppertal, Germany, in the early 1990s, she became interested in the persona of Else Lasker-Schüler and all she represented – as a woman, a poetess and author, a Jew and an exile.
The 32 works of this series (created 1992-1993) include portraits of the poetess at different ages, which were executed in pastel on enlarged photocopies of photographs. Another group of works relates to several of her poems, and a third group was inspired by “My Blue Piano” (1934) in particular. In this poem, which is both lyrical and political, the piano alludes to death and cessation. Consequently, in Steffa Reis’ series, this icon of western culture becomes a metaphor for loss and dissolution, for a world fading away, and the destruction and exile wrought by the Nazis.
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Else III, 1992 -
Garland of Words, 1993 -
Else V, 1992 -
Else IV, 1992 -
Else, 1992 -
Else XI, 1992 -
Else IX, 1992 -
Reaching for the Stars, 1992 -
Prince Yusuf of Thebes, 1992 -
Ich und Dich, 1992 -
Angel at My Shoulder II, 1992 -
Blue Piano I, 1992 -
Blue Piano X, 1992 -
Blue Piano VI, 1992 -
Piano, Books, 1992 -
Memory, Ghost, 1992 -
Double Image, 1992 -
Piano, Epilogue, 1992 -
Requiem – The Disappearing Piano, 1992 -
Piano – Reflection, 1992 -
The Hanging Piano – Destiny, 1992 -
Strata and Memory, 1992 -
The Dead Star, 1992
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Collection, University of Haifa
Hecht Collection, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Collection, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, Universitry of Haifa
Hecht Museum, Universitry of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
Hecht Museum, University of Haifa
