Stalin and Hitler, the creators of the concentration camps
Charles AISEN: artist
No image available
Born into a tinsmith and iron-working family in Poland, Aisen emigrated to Australia in 1926. In his sculptural work, begun quite late in his life, he addressed cultural, social and political issues of the past and expressed his affinity with the horrors and anti-Semitism of World War II, such that he returned to Warsaw for the 22nd anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising (April-May 1943). Working with tin in a naïve or primitive style, here Aisen communicates his view about the greed for power in the Soviet Union and Germany which caused the tremendous loss of lives. Stalin and Hitler stand back to back with blood-stained hands, moulded into one figure with two faces. Between the two dictators’ feet are the dead, concentration camps and a gas chamber.
Title
Stalin and Hitler, the creators of the concentration camps
Artist/Maker and role
Charles AISEN: artist
Date
c 1972
Medium
metal, paint, barbed wire, steel wool
Measurements
124.5 x 43.5 x 83.5 cm
Credit line
Gift of the Aisen Family Trust, through the Commonwealth Government's Cultural Gifts Program, 1990
The State Art Collection, The Art Gallery of Western Australia
Accession number
1990/0114