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    Artist

  • Spier, Joseph, 1900-1978

    • Title

  • Terezin, Sketches

  • Physical Description

    Drawing : Pencil on wove paper, glued to a paper backing ; 9" x 13.6" (22.8 cm x 34.6 cm)

  • Date

    circa 1943

  • Summary

    Recto: Cots with bodies covered with sheets. One corpse has a label dangling from a toe. Another has flypaper hanging from an arch and two bundles at the foot of the cot. Other sketches inclue an old lady and a nurse with a urinal. "Got from Jo Spier" written in lower right. Verso: Figure studies, a group of people gathered around a pump, men standing in a row, a seated man, and a large boxy space with a long figure.

  • Subject

    Theresienstadt (Concentration camp)

  • Medium

    Drawings

  • Accession Number

  • URL

Biographical/Historical Information

Born in Zutphen, The Netherlands, Joseph Adolf Spier was one of the most popular Dutch illustrators. In the 1930s, he worked for the newspaper De Telegraaf, where he depicted daily life with a mild sense of humor. In 1938, he was chosen as one of the ten most popular Dutch people. During WW II, Spier was arrested for drawing a parody of Hitler, and ended up in camp Westerbork, where he painted a mural in the children's hospital. His family was held in Villa Bouchina, the small privileged camp in Doetinchem, where Spier moved to soon as well. Eventually, the whole family was transported to the Theresienstad concentration camp, which they survived. After the war Jo Spier worked for the weekly magazine Elsevier for a while. He also wrote the book 'Dat Alles Heeft Mijn oog Gezien". Because of war trauma, he moved to the USA with his family in 1951. He left his work to the municipal museum of his hometown, Zutphen.

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Citation

Spier, Joseph: Terezin, Sketches, Leo Baeck Institute, 82.176.