Erna Rosenstein's notes
The Contemporary Art: Works on paper auction will be held on May 13th. Among the auctioned works one has a particularly fascinating backstory. Despite it's small size, Erna Rosenstein's - "The quietest place" presents an extraordinary story, and the key to it is the back of the substrate.
The presented drawing was made using ink on a small piece of paper. Interestingly, Erna Rosenstein was inspired by an invitation to a screening of "The Dead Class" by Tadeusz Kantor at the Cricot 2 theater.The brown paper on which the invitation was printed became the perfect substrate for a subtle, abstract work. It is worth emphasizing that the artist was associated with the group of Krakow artists (the Krakow Group) with Tadeusz Kantor. Moreover, she was directly related to the activities of the Cricot Theater, even once performing in the play "Krakow Lajkonik".
A characteristic feature of this work, like many other works by the artist, is the line - flexible, tangled, giving the impression of being freely guided. The rhythm and ornamental decorativeness of this line often determine the expression of its paintings, both in painting and drawing.
Erna Rosenstein works are characterized by mysterious, surprising in many respects combinations, in which the artist intertwined elements taken from various spheres: the unreal and real, spiritual and sensual world. She freely associated fantasy with reality, and each of her works is a kind of journey through a world filled with personal experiences grown on the basis of intimate dreams, fantasies or longings.
An unprecedented feature of her art is the constant notation, a hot capture of emotions, experiences and memories, which, in the artist's view, were more important than depicting the outside world. Rosenstein moved smoothly from drawing to painting, and from painting to collage. She often combined various techniques, gluing and painting in subsequent elements in such a way as to subject them to the action of time. Work like this one, made on an informal basis, can be such a record of impressions or feelings.