Art At The Home

The Eye of a Generation
Bernard Gotfryd: Portraits & Landscapes
August 17 – October 26, 2008

The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is pleased to announce its latest exhibition The Eye of a Generation -- Bernard Gotfryd: Portraits and Landscapes which features the work of photographer, Holocaust survivor, and award-winning author Bernard Gotfryd. Known for his photographs of such iconic personages as David Ben-Gurion, Leonard Bernstein, and Primo Levi, among many others, his portraits chronicle an influential generation who helped shape the political and cultural events of the latter half of the 20th century. His fine art photographs of landscapes and interiors will also be on view.

Gotfryd was born in Radom, Poland where he decided at an early age to become a photographer. He was hired as an apprentice at a family friend’s photography studio shortly after World War II broke out, during which time he linked himself with the Polish resistance. He secretly acquired pictures of Nazi and Gestapo atrocities which were obtained from rolls of film dropped for processing and delivered them to the resistance. However, in October of 1943, he was deported to the Maidanek extermination camp; by the time of the Liberation in May of 1945, he had survived six different concentration camps. He emigrated to the United States two years later where he was drafted as an army combat photographer, and shortly thereafter embarked upon a 30-year career as a photojournalist for Newsweek.

Throughout his career, Gotfryd chose to shoot his pictures using natural light rather than relying on flash photography or artificial lighting. Armed with only a 35mm camera and several rolls of black and white film, he was able to capture the vitality of his sitter in a mere few minutes, filling his work with intensity, magnetism, and humor. His work also extends to more informal subjects which range from Southwestern landscapes to images focusing on semi-abstract, compositional elements, such as color and spatial relationships. His fine art photographs have been shown in galleries around the United States.

Bernard Gotfryd lives in Forest Hills, NY where he divides his time between writing, lecturing, photography, and gardening. He is the author of Anton the Dove Fancier and Other Tales of the Holocaust, an account of his experiences in the concentration camps.

As a member of the American Association of Museums, The Hebrew Home at Riverdale is committed to displaying fine art and houses a permanent collection comprised of 20th century and contemporary art including prints, paintings, photographs, and sculpture, as well as The Judaica Museum which exhibits art and artifacts from Jewish life and culture. The Home is a nonprofit, non-sectarian geriatric center serving more than 3,000 elderly persons through its resources and community service programs. Its 19-acre main campus, which also features a sculpture garden, overlooks the Hudson River and Palisades. For further information regarding the exhibition or the Hebrew Home’s art collection, please contact the Art Department at (718) 581-1596 or Public Relations Department at (718) 581-1225.

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