You’ve probably never heard of any of the artists whose work appears in “Forbidden Art,” a traveling exhibit that just arrived at the Polish Museum of America, but given the circumstances under which their work was created, it’s close to miraculous that anyone knows their names at all. The 20 paintings, drawings, and sculptures were created by prisoners—both Jewish and Christian—in Auschwitz, Ravensbrück, and Buchenwald concentration camps during World War II.
Others used art as a way to transcend the horrors of their daily lives. One group wrote and illustrated a booklet of fairy tales for the children they’d left behind when they were arrested. Stanisław Trałka transformed the kommandants into caricatures. Zofia Stepień drew idealized portraits of her friends so that they didn’t look like prisoners. “Almost all the women had ulcerations, furuncles, suppurating wounds,” she explained later. “I just tried to embellish them all.”
Most of the work is rough and unpolished because of the circumstances under which it was created, but there is one highly crafted piece, an intricate silver bracelet that shows scenes from the Łódź ghetto. It was likely made before its owner was transferred to Auschwitz; after the war, it was discovered buried beside a crematorium, along with a series of notes describing ghetto life in more detail.
Through 1/11/15 Polish Museum of America 984 N. Milwaukee 773-384-3352 polishmuseumofamerica.org $10, $9 students and seniors
