To celebrate Women’s History Month we will be publishing a series of weekly posts on the women artists which make up 27% of the Ben Uri Collection. The first of this series looks at the painter Dora Holzhandler, who has four works in the Collection. Dora Holzhandler was born in Paris in 1928 to émigré Jewish/Polish parents who fled anti-Semitic persecution in their native Warsaw. Holzhandler spent her early childhood in Normandy with her mother and maternal grandfather- a devout Rabbi- to whom she became deeply attached, and inspired her paintings, ‘My Grandfather in Auschwitz’ (2006) (you can see the painting here ow.ly/uv5U9). Holzhandlers work invites comparisons to the dreamy folk art of Marc Chagall, with her figurative works evoking a child-like simplicity. Holzhandler’s work is created using her visual imagination, with scenes typically celebrating everyday themes of domesticity, children and Jewish Life, through rich decoration, pattern and colour. Holzhandler’s painting ‘Mother and Children in Holland Park’ (1997) depicts a maternal scene of a leisurely visit to Holland Park (you can see the painting here: ow.ly/uv2ZR). Albeit a conventional subject, Holzhandler transforms the traditional ‘mother and child’ scene by embellishing the background and the mother’s outfit with patterns reminiscent of ornamental Roman mosaics. This rich decoration elevates the domestic scene and celebrates maternal love. You can see more of Dora Holzhandler’s paintings in the Ben Uri collection here ow.ly/uv53M
Posted on: Wed, 12 Mar 2014 17:00:23 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015