us-005578-irn521111-irn521149
type: RecordSet
archival history: The print was acquired by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 1987.
biographical history: "I wanted to portray the thousand fears, the perception of the horrible, the subjection of those who are shadowed and persecuted. I wanted to show the dehumanizing process and the struggle of the best against it. And I wanted to warn the world against the war that threatened" Lea Grundig (1958) Lea Langer was born on March 23, 1906, in Dresden, Germany, into a middle class Orthodox Jewish family. Despite parental objections, she studied at the School of Academy of Arts and Crafts and then the Fine Arts Academy in Dresden from 1922 to 1926. While in school, she met Hans Grundig, another art student. Hans was born in 1901 to working class parents, also in Dresden. Lea and Hans joined the Communist Party in 1926. Her father did not approve of her politics or of Grundig, and sent Lea to sanatoriums in Heidelberg and Vienna, but Hans joined her in both cities. In 1928, she and Hans married. They lived in the poor, working class area of Dresden. Lea and Hans were founding members of the Dresden chapter of the Revolutionary German Artists' Association (ASSO) and worked with the Linkskurve theater group. Lea and Hans produced drawings and posters for the Communist Party, but neither could find steady work during the Depression. Lea did linocuts of mother and child images which were widely distributed. She was influenced by the humanistic work of Kathe Kollwitz and the anti-war work of Otto Dix. Her expressionistic style blended elements of her Orthodox Jewish background, social realism, and her deep political involvement in works inspired by the passionate belief that art that would change the world around her. Hitler assumed power in Germany on January 30, 1933. By summer, the dictatorship was firmly in control. Opposing parties were outlawed and civil rights were abolished. Resistance art was deemed dangerous and Lea and Hans were prohibited from working as artists. The government established a Reich Culture Chamber to control all aspects of German culture. In the Third R…
physical characteristics and technical requirements: Drypoint etching on heavy wove cream paper with an image of a careworn woman leaning from a second story window overlooking a street where 6 young children play and 2 bearded Orthodox Jewish men with wide brimmed hats walk. The street is lined with sidewalks and buildings. Across the street is a 2 story building labeled Restaurant, with a Star of David on both windows. The heavy hatchmark lines along the buildings and street have a somber effect that is alleviated by the clear, light, unmarked circle where the children play. front, on sheet, lower right corner, pencil : 43 back, on sheet, lower right corner, pencil : 500,∙
conditions of access: No restrictions on access
conditions of use: No restrictions on use
has beginning date: 1934-01-01
has beginning date: 1972-01-01
has end date: 1972-12-31
has end date: 1934-12-31
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn521149
is or was included in: us-005578-irn521111
record resource extent: pictorial area: Height: 9.625 inches (24.448 cm) | Width: 12.875 inches (32.703 cm) overall: Height: 16.375 inches (41.593 cm) | Width: 21.125 inches (53.658 cm)
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: Intaglio print, Judengasse, created by Lea Grundig in 1934 in Nazi Germany. This is a print in the protest series, Unterm Hakenkreuz. It depicts a woman watching children play and Orthodox Jewish men crossing Jew's Alley in Dresden. Lea Grundig and her husband, Hans, were dedicated Communists who created anti-Fascist works documenting and protesting conditions under Nazi rule in Dresden. Such works were prohibited under Hitler and the Nazi regime. Lea, 30, was arrested for her resistance art in 1936, but released. She continued working as an artist and was arrested in 1938 for high treason and sentenced to two years in the Dresden Gestapo prison. In December 1939, Lea was released and left for Palestine. Hans, 35, was also arrested in 1936 and 1938, and in 1940, was imprisoned in Sachenhausen concentration camp. He was released in 1944 and went to the Soviet Union. The couple reunited in 1949 when Lea returned to Dresden.
title: Jew's Alley Under the Swastika Drypoint etching by Lea Grundig of a woman watching children play