Felix Nussbaum: Assimulation and Dissimulation

May 21–August 30, 1998

This project was mounted by the Smart Museum as part of the Field Museum’s city-wide programming in conjunction with the exhibition Assignment: Rescue, the Story of Varian Fry and the Emergency Rescue Committee (organized by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Washington, D.C.).

The exhibition featured the Smart Museum’s rare, two-sided painting by German artist Felix Nussbaum (1904–1944) who was a victim of Nazi persecution. These expressive images explore themes of cultural identity an the alienation of European Jews in pre-World War II Europe.

Both sides of the painting were displayed concurrently.