Collection GB 1556 WL 1535 - Frankl, Adolf (1903-1983): papers regarding art exhibition

Identity area

Reference code

GB 1556 WL 1535

Title

Frankl, Adolf (1903-1983): papers regarding art exhibition

Date(s)

  • 1975-1990 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

1 file

Context area

Name of creator

Biographical history

Adolf Frankl was born in 1903, the son of a Jewish businessman in Bratislava. Having shown an aptitude for art at an early age, he was discouraged from making a career out of his talent and went to work in his father's business from 1920. He married Renee Nachmias in 1933 and founded his own interior decoration business in 1937. The advent of the Nazis and, in particular, the establishment of the puppet Tiso-regime in Slovakia, resulted in pogroms against the country's Jewish population. Frankl's business was aryanised in 1941 and he was forced to live in a ghetto with his family.

Frankl was sent to Auschwitz in 1944, where he survived. It was only after the war that the full horror began to trouble him in the form of recurrent nightmares. It was suggested that he paint as a way of working through his horrific experiences. The paintings which were used in the exhibition entitled Visionen aus dem Inferno were the result. Material relating to this exhibition is described below.

After the war Frankl lived in Vienna and New York then, from the 1960s, in Germany. He died in 1983.

Repository

Archival history

GB 1556 WL 1535 1975-1990 collection 1 file Frankl , Thomas , fl 1990

Adolf Frankl was born in 1903, the son of a Jewish businessman in Bratislava. Having shown an aptitude for art at an early age, he was discouraged from making a career out of his talent and went to work in his father's business from 1920. He married Renee Nachmias in 1933 and founded his own interior decoration business in 1937. The advent of the Nazis and, in particular, the establishment of the puppet Tiso-regime in Slovakia, resulted in pogroms against the country's Jewish population. Frankl's business was aryanised in 1941 and he was forced to live in a ghetto with his family.

Frankl was sent to Auschwitz in 1944, where he survived. It was only after the war that the full horror began to trouble him in the form of recurrent nightmares. It was suggested that he paint as a way of working through his horrific experiences. The paintings which were used in the exhibition entitled Visionen aus dem Inferno were the result. Material relating to this exhibition is described below.

After the war Frankl lived in Vienna and New York then, from the 1960s, in Germany. He died in 1983.

Deposited by the family.

Papers of Adolf Frankl, 1975-1990, relate to an art exhibition of Adolf Frankl's works and consist of correspondence, opening addresses, newspaper reviews and catalogues.

Arranged in original order.

Open

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

German and English

Additional finding aids can be located within the Wiener Library reading room.

Entry compiled by Howard Falksohn.

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

March 2008 Art collections Arts Cultural exhibitions Exhibitions Frankl , Adolf , 1903-1983 , businessman Medical sciences Therapy Works of art Movable cultural property Cultural property Cultural heritage Collections Cultural resources

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Deposited by the family.

Content and structure area

Scope and content

Papers of Adolf Frankl, 1975-1990, relate to an art exhibition of Adolf Frankl's works and consist of correspondence, opening addresses, newspaper reviews and catalogues.

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged in original order.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Open

Conditions governing reproduction

Copies can be made for personal use. Permission must be sought for publication.

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

  • Latin

Language and script notes

German and English

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Additional finding aids can be located within the Wiener Library reading room.

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related descriptions

Notes area

Alternative identifier(s)

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Wiener Library

Rules and/or conventions used

Compiled in compliance with General International Standard Archival Description, ISAD(G), second edition, 2000; National Council on Archives Rules for the Construction of Personal, Place and Corporate Names, 1997.

Status

Level of detail

Dates of creation revision deletion

Language(s)

  • English

Script(s)

    Sources

    Accession area