Self-Portrait 1944

This self-portrait was created by Ilka Gedo using ink on paper. The loose, flowing lines of the drawing convey a sense of introspection and melancholy. But how does this image connect to the wider social and cultural context in which it was made? Ilka Gedo was a Jewish artist living in Hungary during World War II. Excluded from mainstream artistic institutions, she turned to self-portraiture as a means of asserting her identity and documenting her experiences. The act of creating art became an act of resistance against the dehumanizing forces of the Holocaust. Historical archives, personal letters, and witness testimonies can provide valuable insights into the artist's life and the socio-political conditions that shaped her work. The meaning of art is always contingent on its social and institutional context.