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Notes
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'Refugees' is a rare, important early painting, thought lost for over 60 years. Herman destroyed most of the works from this period in 1948, considering it too influenced by Chagall. Blue was the dominant colour of these years, used as a nostalgic evocation of a lost Warsaw. Like much of Herman’s Glasgow work, this painting draws on his eastern European Jewish heritage. However, the refugees also represent the wider displacement of peoples uprooted and forced into exile by the Second World War's upheavals. The cat symbolizes the family’s unknown fate with a mouse dangling from its jaw. The figures' treatment reflects Herman’s admiration for Käthe Kollwitz, while the fearful child with her hand in her mouth is reminiscent of Goya. Among other works from this early period are the sketch 'Musicians' (c.
Title
Refugees
Date
c.1941
Medium
gouache on paper
Measurements
H 47 x W 39.5 cm
Accession number
2014-01
Acquisition method
purchased with the assistance of the ACE/Victoria and Albert Museum Purchase Grant Fund and Art Fund through Conor Macklin of the Grosvenor Gallery, 2014
Work type
Watercolour
Signature/marks description
Signed and titled on reverse of backing board: 'Refugees by Josef Herman'
Inscription description
Signed and titled on reverse of backing board: 'Refugees by Josef Herman'
Ben Uri Gallery & Museum
108a Boundary Road, St John's Wood, London, Greater London NW8 0RH England
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Pink-Costume for 'Ballet of the Palette' Glasgow Museums Resource Centre (GMRC) -
Two Peasant Women with a Donkey Hampshire Cultural Trust Headquarters, Winchester (Hampshire County Council’s Fine Art Collection) -
Lillian Browse (1906–2005) The Fitzwilliam Museum -
Evenfall, Ystradgynlais, Powys Leicester Museum & Art Gallery -
Musicians (from 'A Memory of Memories') Ben Uri Gallery & Museum -
Head of a Miner Rugby Art Gallery and Museum - 72 more
