Jewish-American artists and the Holocaust: the responses of two generations

Artists working in the aftermath of the Holocaust could only deal with their knowledge of mass murder by avoiding concrete images and opted for abstract or mythological figures. Influenced by left-wing politics artists also turned to Greek tragedy to express primitive forces and terror. Conversely more contemporary artists invoked the notion of 'tikkun olam'. Thus art is conceived as part of a healing process - they see their task as being restorative and forgiving, yet insist on being witnesses to the specific event of the Holocaust .