How do artists' identities and the histories of their families influence their art? Where might
a creative affinity sustained by a legacy of trauma take an artist? Lotte Laserstein
(1898-1993) and Emmanuel Bornstein (b. 1986) are connected by such a bond tied by Bornstein's
grandmother a Résistance fighter and like Lotte Laserstein a Jew who survived the Nazis.
Bornstein discovered Laserstein's works by coincidence and without knowing of this connection
and he was fascinated right away: It was actually what I'd been trying to make for years! There
are in fact parallels between their oeuvres-both feature people who are waiting and flower
bouquets and a melancholy aspect and a subtle menace can be felt in both. Yet there are also
discrepancies and the dialogue between their works would be far less inspiring without them:
Bornstein's omnipresent toxic cadmium which contrasts with Laserstein's muted tones the paint
application the brushwork. What the artists have in common in any case is that Sweden became
their abode in times of danger and painting their only true home. This catalog celebrates
their creative homecoming.
