Franz Radziwill
Flanders (Where to in this world?), 1940/50

Artist
Franz Radziwill

Title
Flanders (Where to in this world?)

Year of creation
1940/50

Technique and dimensions
Oil on canvas on plywood, 119 x 170 cm

Year of acquisition
2012

In May 1940, Radziwill witnessed Hitler's Germany attack on Belgium as a soldier. In the second half of the year, again in Dangast, the first version of the picture was taken with the displaced people and the planes over the lowlands of Flemish Belgium with the Kemel ridge. The first version is still a very realistic war report, the title "Where to go in this world?" alludes to the fate of the refugees.

After the experiences in the Second World War, the second revised version of the painting was created between 1945 and 1950, with which Radziwill took the step from "magical realism" to an apocalyptic, surreally accentuated symbolism in the sense of a résumé.

The first version underwent numerous iconographic changes during these years through overpainting: two additional JU 87s and two large aircraft similar to the Focke-Wulf FW 189, cherub-like creatures in the sky, sun ball, stylized rose, tear through heaven and earth.

The picture belongs to the group of works that Radziwill subjected to a second, serious change after their initial completion in 1945.