Love and Betrayal - The Expressionist Fritz Ascher from New York Private Collections

The late Expressionist artist Fritz Ascher (1893-1970) survived two world wars and persecution by the National Socialist regime. A close observer of the horrors of World War I and revolutionary unrest, he turned to Christian spiritual themes, which he radically reinterpreted. In intimate drawings, he dealt with the theme of love and betrayal from 1916 onward, both in his exploration of the crucifixion theme and with the figure of Bajazzo in the tragicomic opera "I Pagliacci."

Ascher's strong and unique artistic voice is evident not only in his paintings, but also in his poems. These were written when he was no longer allowed to work under National Socialism because of his Jewish roots and as a representative of modernism, and had to go into hiding for years to avoid deportation.