Edith Kiss

Edith Kiss was a Hungarian artist born in 1905, whose work spanned multiple mediums, including sculpture and painting. Her life took a dramatic turn in 1944 when she was deported to the Ravensbrück concentration camp in northern Germany. From there, she was transferred to a factory in Ludwigsfelde, where she was forced to work on aircraft engines for the Luftwaffe. This experience had a profound impact on her, and she would later express the trauma she endured through her art.

After her release from the factory, Kiss created a series of 30 gouache sketches that illustrated her experiences in the concentration camps. These powerful works were exhibited in Budapest in 1945, but unfortunately, her art received little recognition in the Western world. This lack of acknowledgment, combined with personal struggles, including the loss of her husband, ultimately led to her tragic death by suicide in Paris in 1966. It wasn't until 1992, more than 25 years after her passing, that her Deportation series gained international recognition, with exhibitions in Berlin, Paris, and Budapest, finally bringing attention to her significant and poignant body of work.