"The Holocaust and Anne Frank" To Open at Guild Hall

[caption id="attachment_56453" align="alignleft" width="800"] "Gallant One" by Michael Knigin.[/caption]

By Michelle Trauring

It’d been some time since Joan Kraisky had talked about her late husband’s work, the artist in her own right recently explained over the telephone. But the passage of time is hardly relevant when it comes to Michael Knigin’s area of focus—considering it was born from a trip to Israel more than four decades ago.

The year was 1974 when the Israel Museum and the Jerusalem Foundation invited Mr. Knigin to establish the Middle East’s first professional lithographic and screen atelier. It was there he first crossed paths with survivors of the Holocaust.

“Emotionally moved by their compelling stories, he created collages to document their stories,” Ms. Kraisky said. “These ‘sketches’ were later transformed into prints and paintings that would act to memorialized the victims of one of the darkest periods in human history.”

[caption id="attachment_56454" align="alignright" width="482"] "Chronic Gangster, 2000, Archival Print on Canvas, by Michael Knigin.[/caption]

The majority of the works Mr. Knigin created are part of his series “Remembrance Art 2000,” a portion of which will be on view starting October 22 at Guild Hall in East Hampton, an exhibition two years in the making, according to Ms. Kraisky, who curated the show.

“I immediately said yes. Michael and I had spent the last few years of his life exhibiting, internationally, artwork he created to celebrate the survival of the spirit, images from his series about the Holocaust and Anne Frank,” she said, adding, “The series has more than 500 works. He worked on it until the end of his life.”

It was the relationship between man and nature, the dehumanization of mankind, and his “apparent lack of concern with the beautiful and the elegant in the mainstream of contemporary culture” that drove Mr. Knigin and his intense interest in the Holocaust, Ms. Kraisky said.

“It was this ‘survival of the spirit’ that had to be communicated,” the artist once said about his work. “I felt compelled. I felt it to be my obligation. I felt it to be a tribute.

“I feel the responsibility of the artist, and of any enlightened human being, is to continue to make us aware of the past,” he continued. “We cannot escape this horrible reality. We have a responsibility to face it and learn its lessons.”

Though the East Hampton artist died five years ago at age 69, his work lives on in at the Sherwin Miller Museum of Jewish Art in Oklahoma, where it is permanently on view.

“Michael invariably referred to the ‘Remembrance Art’ series has his legacy,” Ms. Kraisky said. “It is relevant today because the Holocaust is always relevant, and it has to be kept in the public eye. The theme has certainly withstood the test of time. While the Holocaust images may be disturbing, they are at the same time beautiful and incredibly well designed. They are unique and complete and they tell the story passionately.”

“A substantial portion of the exhibition is dedicated to Anne Frank,” she added, “whose stirring words have been read by millions, and to her indomitable spirit, which has inspired generations.”

“Michael Knigin: The Holocaust and Anne Frank,” curated by Joan Kraisky, will open with a reception on Sunday, October 23, at 3 p.m. at Guild Hall in East Hampton. The exhibition will remain on view through December 31. For more information, call (631) 324-0806, or visit guildhall.org.