William Congdon. In the Death of One

A new exhibition at the Memoriale della Shoah gives voice to the drawings and diaries of the American painter William Congdon, which have remained largely unpublished until now.

Congdon (Providence, 15 April 1912 – Milan, 15 April 1998), born as an artist in the Action Painting movement, art movement of Jackson Pollock, Willem De Kooning, Franz Kline and Mark Rothko, from which Congdon has gradually detached himself, developing his own personal style.

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In 1945 Congdon served as a volunteer for the American Field Service following the troops liberating the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp. The artist’s participation in the events of the war marked in him a particular sensitivity to collective dramas, which is found in his works like a caress that lacerates the human soul. The notes taken during his tragic experience tell of his effort not to lose the sense of the meaning of humanity. The figures, faces, images and voices in the exhibition take visitors on a journey through Bergen Belsen, but also through themselves.

American Field Service is an organization of volunteer ambulance and stretcher bearers that after World War II continued its activities worldwide, through the organization of student exchanges to promote intercultural dialogue.