An Artist Witnessing the Concentration Camps: Testimony and Artistic Expression in the Works of Jan Komski

Abstract

1940年至1945間，納粹集中營與猶太區藝術家之作品，以及特別是戰後數十年間集中營倖存者所創作之作品，其背後之歷史主體相當複雜，迄今仍未受多數藝術史研究者之注意。本文將初步嘗試研究與分析揚‧科姆斯基（Jan Komski）之作品；該藝術家是經歷五座集中營之倖存者，於1940年代至1990年代間創作超過兩百件繪畫作品，二戰期間更有描繪奧斯威辛（Auschwitz）與其他集中營之水彩畫和油畫，而該藝術家相對較不有名。本研究有兩個主要目的，其一為對科姆斯基描繪三類場景的作品進行分析：奧斯威辛集中營中倒吊之酷刑、絞刑台處決和「死亡之牆」之槍決；其二為探討妨礙科姆斯基與其他倖存者之藝術作品為人所接受的三個問題：「善忘的記憶」、「令人生厭之美」以及合法性。作者希望藉由研究揚‧科姆斯基之作品與思考這些問題，試圖釐清如何可能的理解，在納粹集中營之受難藝術家所描繪的圖像中，親身見證與藝術表現之間的張力。

The history behind the works produced by artists within Nazi concentration camps and ghettos between 1940 and 1945, and especially the art created by the survivors during the decades after the war, is a complex subject that has so far remained unattended by the majority of art historians. This study is an initial attempt to investigate and analyze the works of Jan Komski, a relatively unknown artist who survived five concentration camps and who created, between the 1940’s and the 1990’s, more than two hundred drawings in addition to watercolor and oil paintings that depict scenes of Auschwitz and other camps during the years of the war. The present thesis has two major purposes. First, it will analyze Komski’s works depicting three scenes: torture by reverse hanging, executions in the gallows, and executions by shooting at the “Death Wall” in Auschwitz. Second, it will discuss three problems that have interfered with thereception of Komski’s and other survivors’ works of art: the problem of the “forgetful memories,” the “unwanted beauty” and the legitimacy. By studying Jan Komski’s works and considering such problems, I will attempt to understand how it is possible to approach the tension between testimony and artistic expression in the images created by artists who were victims of the Nazi concentration camps.