[From the Community Collection, a public trust in Agincourt, Iowa]

BJÖRKMAN-GOLDSCHMIDT, Elsa [1888-1982]

“Vinter” / “Winter”

1922 (1916)

lithographic reprint of woodcut /

This modest print is one about which we know more about the artist than the work itself. The original was printed in 1916 in an unknown edition. Copies of the original are included in the collections of the British Museum and the National Gallery of Ireland. In 1922 it was reproduced as a print, possibly in book or periodical form such as The International Studio. Our copy is in that format and is on long term loan from Temple Emanu-El synagogue.

About the artist herself, however, there is considerable information. Her entry in Svenskt kvinnobiografiskt lexikon, introduces a massive biographical summary of her long and dramatic life:

Elsa Björkman-Goldschmidt was an author, journalist and visual artist who was associated with the liberal left women’s movement. She also undertook comprehensive humanitarian work on behalf of prisoners of war, children, and refugees during and after both World Wars, largely as the local representative of Rädda Barnen in Vienna.

As the citizen of a neutral country during the Second World War, Mrs Björkman-Goldschmidt was able to accomplish considerable humanitarian work, despite her status as a Jew.

Photograph of Else Andrea Elisabeth Björkman-Goldschmidt [1888-1982]