Object number2023.38

Entartete Kunst, Alpenlandschaft, 1937/2022

Date1937/2022

Artist Lisa Oppenheim (American, born 1975)

CultureAmerican

MediumGelatin silver print, solarized by firelight; unique

DimensionsImage: 21 3/8 x 18 3/8 in. (54.3 x 46.7 cm)
Unframed: 23 5/8 x 19 7/16 in. (60 x 49.4 cm)
Framed: 24 1/4 x 20 3/8 in. (61.6 x 51.8 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, Advisory Council for Photography

Classification(s)

Photograph

Vassar Exhibitions

Chronostasia: Select Acquisitions 2020–2025

Label TextWorking from a thumbnail found in the Freie Universität Berlin database of artworks seized by Nazi authorities who deemed them “degenerate,” Lisa Oppenheim recovered what remains of Fritz Schaefler’s oil painting, Alpenlandschaft (created ca. 1925 and stolen in 1937). Oppenheim used software to upsample the tiny thumbnail, enlarging and rephotographing the image at a much larger scale. While her photograph developed in its chemical bath in the darkroom, she exposed it to the flicker of fire light. This process, known as solarization, inverts the tones of a photograph unpredictably, turning light areas dark and shadows bright. The resulting image bears no resemblance to any conventional landscape; the Alpine sublime becomes ghostly and ominous. Through what Oppenheim calls “reprocessing,” each translation leaves its mark: dust, grain, and chemical traces. The degraded image carries forward the damage of its confiscation and loss.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu