Life? or Theater?

“… And with dream awakened eyes she saw all the beauty around her, saw the sea, felt the sun, and knew she had to vanish for a while from the human surface and make every sacrifice in order to create her world anew out of the depths.” epilogue of Life? or Theater?

Charlotte Salomon was 26 years old and 5 months pregnant when she was transported to Auschwitz  in October 1943 and gassed the same day. She left behind her an exceptional body of work Life? or Theater? she painted in less than 2 years while leaving in exile in South of France.

In 1943, as the Nazis intensified their search for Jews living in the South of France, she handed the work to a trusted friend with the words, “Keep this safe, it is my whole life.”

Charlotte was a genius, a poet, a visionary, a broken soul.

It is insane how modern she was, how she added texts, captions, and overlays into her paintings… Life ? or Theater?  is a total work of art…

Her life a tragedy , beautifully written in David Foenkinos “Charlotte”