PMS:
Blue:212-2C Red: 84-1C
Grey:329-4C
Gold:12-4C…I met Charlotte Salomon in the spring of 1939…
Charlotte was 22 years old, with hair soft and blood, blue eyes rosy cheeks, something stiff in her movements and with the shyness of a doe. She withdrew in herself in front of strangers and nothing distributed her more than being asked questions. Her parents considered her obstinate but Charlotte wasn’t so at all; she was extremely feminine and had an extraordinary inner life.
I me Charlotte by chance in New York in December of 2000.I went to The Jewish Museum and I saw her exhibition: Life? Or Theatre?
From that moment on I have never stopped thinking of her. It’s not only about her tragic destiny but it’s the power of her work which became an obsession for me.
Her gouaches (tempera color) are the result of a mix of languages, painting, sculpture, music and theater. Her work seems to be a movie story board with long shots, close-up, montage. The work is structure as a set, where a kind of a set, where a kind of family sage develops into complicated narrative plot, recalling classical Russian literature, with classical pieces and traditional baliads as soundtracks. The color are primary (red, yellow, blue) and white mixed together to create deep shades that evoke Chagall.
Last year at the “Montagnola” market in Bologna I chanced upon a rare book from 1963 dedicated to her. Here I just wanted to remember her.
“From email Strauss “A diary in pictures by Charlotte Salomon” Bomplani, Mailan1963
