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Nelly Toll: "Imagining a Better World"
In 1943, a sympathetic Christian family hid eight-year-old Nelly Zygmunt and her mother from the Nazis in Lwow, Poland. During their year of confinement, Nelly created brightly detailed watercolor dreams of her ideal world. Her optimistic paintings are an important counterpart to the cruelty depicted by most children of the Holocaust.
(Image above: Nelly Zygmunt Toll, "Self-Portrait," c. 1944)
Prints of Nelly Zygmunt Toll’s childhood watercolors, “Imagining a Better World,” will be displayed in the Massillon Museum’s Studio M through April 4.
After World War Two, Nelly Toll pursued formal art training, earning a PhD from the University of Pennsylvania and publishing three books on the topic of the Holocaust and related art.
“Nelly Toll: Now,” the artist’s recent paintings and collages will be exhibited in the Museum’s second-floor gallery through April 11. This will be the first exhibit of Toll’s 2009-2010 body of abstract and impressionistic artwork.
“The dual openings will enable visitors to experience Nelly Toll’s growth as an artist, from viewing prints of her childhood watercolors to the vivid paintings of her adulthood,” said Massillon Museum Curator Alexandra Nicholis, who has organized the two shows. “A common thread in both these bodies of work is an overall joyfulness and love of color.”
Toll will visit with Massilloon Middle School students on Thursday, when she will discuss her book, Behind the Secret Window, A Memoir of a Hidden Childhood During World War Two, which the students are reading. She will present a free public program at Kent Stark University Stark Campus on Friday, March 5, at 10:00 a.m.
The exhibitions, programs, and Toll’s travel are funded by the National Endowment for the Arts as part of The Big Read. The Massillon Museum is exhibiting Toll’s work “then and now” as part of The Big Read and the Museum’s 2010 book selection, The Shawl, by Cynthia Ozick.
The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.
For more information about the Nelly Toll exhibitions or The Big Read, call 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org. To learn more about The Big Read, visit www.NEABigRead.org.
The Studio M show may be seen during regular Museum hours, Tuesday through
Saturday 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Sunday 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., except when
the Silk Room has been reserved for private functions. A call to the Museum
office can confirm that the exhibit is available for viewing: 330-833-4061.
Studio M enhances the collaboration between the
Museum and the community by showcasing the artistic talents of local,
regional, and national artists. The series of five-week shows will
continue throughout the year, selected by jurors from proposals submitted
by artists. Brochures containing guidelines and an application are
available by contacting the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or www.massillonmuseum.org.
The Massillon Museum is located at 121 Lincoln Way East (Ohio Route 172)
in the heart of downtown Massillon. A visit to the Massillon Museum is
always free.
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2010 Schedule:
Mount Union Fine Art Majors
Emily Starr
Brittany Steigert
Cari Miller
Boys and Girls Club of Massillon Art Exhibit
Boy Scouts Art Exhibit of Parade Float Designs
Cheri Mohn
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Previous Studio M Exhibitions:
Click here for a full archive of Studio M Exhibits.
Christine Shearer, Massillon Museum Director - 330-833-4061
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On Friday, March 5, from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m., the Massillon Museum will simultaneously open two exhibitions by Nelly Toll of Philadelphia. A Holocaust survivor, the author and artist Nelly Toll will be present for the event.
