![]() Several of his pictures are included in the exhibition. He was released six months later and reunited with his wife and with his daughter, who had been born while he was away. Another one interned on the Isle of Man, where he had his portrait painted by Kurt Schwitters He married Diana Croft, the daughter of the right wing MP (and, like many of his kind today, an opponent of allowing in refugees) who wasn’t too pleased, to put it mildly. He initially went to Paris, but as he was unable to work there legally he moved to Spain, leaving due to the start of the Civil War, moved back to France and then on to London. He had qualified as a lawyer in Stuttgart, with a doctorate in both civil and church law, but, being Jewish had to flee Germany in 1933. In 1947 he became a British citizen, and from 1949 until his death in 1954 he taught at Camberwell school of Art, Martin Bloch, Scorched Trees, (1943 )Īnother artist who figured prominently in the exhibition, and who I’d not come across before (at least, as far as I can recall) was Fred Uhlman. During the post-war years he painted the English countryside, and stayed in the countryside staying with his friend and fellow émigré artist Joseph Herman. On his release he painted blitzed London cityscapes. At the beginning of the war he was interned in Huyton, near Liverpool. Martin Bloch was a German-Jewish artist who came to Britain as a refugee in 1934 via Denmark. Like Schwitters, she moved to the Lake District settling on the Langdale Estate near Ambleside.Īgain, the Lakeland Arts Trust have a small collection of her paintings. When she arrived London in 1939 with her mother, she had little money so set up a small business, the Golly Studio, making and selling gloves and mittens to give themselves an income. The Austrian Expressionist painter Hilde Goldschmidt. The Lakeland Arts Trust have a small collection of his works.Īnother refugee artist who lived in the Lakes, and who was a friend of Schwitters, was After the war they ended up moving to the Lake District, where he would paint portraits and landscapes to earn a little money, and he spent his last years at Elterwater. After his release in 1941 he moved to London where he formed a relationship with a younger woman, Edith Thomas, who he nicknamed Wantee (she was always asking him if he wanted tea – a woman after my own heart, I think!). At the outbreak of WWII, together with many other “enemy alien” refugees he was interned on the Isle of Man where he would create abstract sculptures out of leftover porridge! (They soon went mouldy). Schwitters was a key figure of Dadaism but as a “degenerate artist” he fled Germany, initially to Norway before moving to Britain. This little collage, made chiefly of wooden scraps upon a wooden base, by Kurt Schwitters, the master of “Merz”, is often on display in the Gallery ![]() Artists include Kurt Schwitters, Hilde Goldschmidt, Hans Coper, Lucie Rie, Lucian Freud, Frank Auerbach and Martin Bloch. The exhibition features paintings and ceramics from Lakeland Arts’ own collection with some loans from public and private collections. We visited on the last day on our short break in Cartmel as Kendal was only a short diversion on our journey home. The current exhibition at Abbot Hall in Kendal, Refuge: The Art of Belonging tells the story of artists who entered Britain as a result of Nazi occupation, which is part of Insiders/Outsiders – a nationwide arts festival taking place throughout 2019 to celebrate refugees from Nazi Europe and their contribution to British culture. Amongst them were intellectuals and artists, some of whom made a lasting contribution to British business, science and art. The reaction then, from the usual suspects, was the same as we see today.ĭespite the hysteria of the likes of the Mail, some German Jewish refugees and radicals were able to settle in Britain, although the authorities didn’t make it easy. ![]() The 1930’s are an example when Jews and other “undesirables” had to flee Nazi repression and death camps. Over the centuries migrants who have settled here and contributed to our culture and prosperity, but who were initially greeted with the same reaction. A mood whipped up by the right wing press and populist politicians. Sadly, the response of many people has been xenophobia, fear and a lack of compassion. ![]() War and poverty has led to waves of migration – people fleeing to the more prosperous parts of the world, seeking safety, a better life, or both. The world’s a pretty depressing place at the moment. “No one leaves home unless/home is the mouth of a shark.” (From Home by Warsan Shire)
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