Untitled [A Lie?]

The painting before conservation. Erna Rosenstein's painting is compared to works connected with the current of Surrealism. The artist, although she lived in Warsaw, was strongly connected with the Kraków artistic milieu. As a member of the Kraków Group she presented her compositions at the Krzysztofory gallery. At the same time she exhibited at the Krzywe Koło gallery in Warsaw. She also took part in two important Kraków shows: the 1st Exhibition of Modern Art and the exhibition „The Nine”, organised in 1955. She was bound by a strong tie with Jonasz Stern. The war years, her stay in the Lwów ghetto and the time of the occupation had a strong influence on the artist. Erna Rosenstein's works are marked by poeticism. The small boards or pieces of cardboard executed in mixed techniques with elements of collage often constituted part of a larger composition - an installation. During the exhibition organised by the Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Warsaw in 1967, one could see, among other things, small upholstered boxes in which the artist hung paintings, a wardrobe full of works, or a space divided by partitions into small intimate zones conducive to contemplation. Most of the artist's works have ephemeral titles such as: As Soon as I Think, Morning Sirens, One-minute Flowers, Rising Sign. In 1974 an exhibition of Erna Rosenstein was held, and in the catalogue accompanying it one can find four works dated to 1969: Landscape, Silence, Lie and Spyglass. Dimensions close to those of the painting presented are held by the work Lie (44 x 35 cm), listed under no. 10. The same composition figures on the list of works presented at the Central Bureau of Art Exhibitions in Piła in 1980 as the seventh painting. In 2014, at the Królikarnia in Warsaw (a branch of the National Museum), an exhibition was held that was an attempt at a retrospective, titled „Superimposing”. At the same time a monograph on the artist appeared, „Erna Rosenstein. I Can Only Repeat Unconsciously”, prepared by Dorota Jarecka and Barbara Piwowarska. (compiled on the basis of: zacheta.art.pl, the Zachęta's documentation concerning the artist) The artist, whose art this year was exhibited at one of the most important art galleries in the world, Hauser & Wirth in New York, has undoubtedly become one of the hottest names on the auction market. It is worth mentioning that an exhibition is planned at the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Among the record sales on the Polish market are two works from 1967. „Don Quixote of Frost” was acquired for 420,000 zlotys (excluding the auction premium; DESA Unicum, 28.11.2019), and „The Adventures of the Peacock” for 320,000 zlotys (excluding the auction premium; DESA Unicum, 01.03.2018).