26/04/2021
An exhibition of illustrations and documents from the work and life of three artists - Lily Renée, Bil Spira, Paul Peter Porges.
The Jewish Museum Vienna
Address: Judenplatz 8, 1010 Vienna
From Wednesday, May 8th to Sunday, November 17th, 2019.
You just need an ordinary entrance ticket for the Jewish Museum to see the exhibition.
The three artists in “Three with a Pen” share a similar story. Each grew up as Jewish children in Vienna, had to leave following the Nazi Germany take-over of Austria and made new lives elsewhere. Each used their skills as artists to survive but also as a means of resistance.
Lily Renée, born 1921, fleeing the Nazis went as a child to England then New York where she worked as a graphic artist and illustrator. The comic book heroine Señorita Rio that Renée drew battled Nazis and other evil doers and became a cult figure for generations of comic fans.
Wilhelm “Bil” Spira (1913–1999), portraitist, caricaturist and painter was also the counterfeiter who made visas and passports to enable the threatened in Vichy France to escape the extermination camps. After the war he led successful career in Paris.
Paul Peter Porges (1927–2016): as a child was at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna. Sent to France by his parents then escaping to Switzerland, Porges attended an art school in Geneva. Porges's brother Kurt had joined the U.S. Army and after the war obtained a visa for Paul to go to America. There he became a contributer of cartoons and illustrations to some of America’s top magazines,
Image in descending order - Peter Porges. Lily Renée, Bill Spira
All copyrights acknowledged,