In 1938, Nazi troops invaded Austria, subsuming the country into the Third Reich in an event known as the “Anschluss”, bringing official antisemitism, along with political violence, to the small, German-speaking nation.
A new exhibition in New York features artworks by three Jewish artists who fled Vienna during the Anschluss, survived and flourished as commercial artists. Armed with their pens, they used their wit, talent and resilience. Their best works are on view in a group exhibition, Three With a Pen, at the Austrian Cultural Forum in New York, proving that art can be used as a weapon against fascism.
Artists were fighting fascism with political satire almost 100 years ago, and yet, their work still resonates. “History doesn’t repeat itself, but there are certain phenomena that are at least reminders,” said Michael Haider, director of the forum.
“Once you have a certain level of racism, of organized hate in society, where people are intimidated systematically, this should be a warning sign,” he said. “After what these artists experienced, we know the outcome.”
The artists are Lily Renée, Bil Spira and Paul Peter Porges, whose comic books, drawings, editorial cartoons and caricatures are on view. They are being shown alongside photos and ephemera that help illustrate their biographies.
“All three artists have this history of escaping Nazi-occupied Vienna, then made their careers and fame – two in New York and one in Paris – elsewhere,” said Haider. “When I saw this exhibit at the Jewish Museum Vienna in 2019, I thought, ‘Now, let’s bring this to New York.’”