Synopsis "Painting Resilience: The Life and art of Fred Terna (in English)"
“Painting Resilience” is Julia Mayer’s vivid personal exploration of the role Fred Terna’s art played in surviving four concentration camps; his post-WWII marriage to his emotionally scarred childhood sweetheart — a fellow survivor; their escape to France, Canada, and the United States; their divorce; and his subsequent happy marriage to a daughter of survivors and the family they created.Included in are reproductions of more than two dozen of Terna’s works, along with personal photos captured by Fred’s son, photographer Daniel Terna. Terna’s art is held by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, Vienna’s Albertina Collection, and Israel’s Yad Vashem, among others.Terna says that living through the Holocaust was luck but living with it takes skill. Mayer wanted to discover what those skills are, record how Terna acquired them, and illuminate the manner in which his art gave rise to Terna’s “example that painful and destructive memories do not exclude a happy and productive life,” as he puts it.“I have known Fred as a family friend since I was a young girl,” recalls the author. “But it wasn’t until six years ago during a tour of his studio and art archive — I was in my mid-20s; Fred was 91 — that I realized I needed to be a conduit for Fred’s life and art inspiring future generations.”The Museum of Jewish Heritage—A Living Memorial to the Holocaust, says, "’Painting Resilience’ allows Terna to generously share his experience before, during, and after the Holocaust through both his recollections and artwork, all with great honesty, insight, and sensitivity.”Additional advance praise:Eloquent and moving. Not many of us can witness to the witnesses, but Julia Mayer’s intimate cross-generational account of Fred Terna’s story as artist and Holocaust survivor makes clear that even across many generations, it is possible to carry this legacy forward. — Laura Levitt, Professor of Religion, Jewish Studies and Gender, Temple University“Painting Resilience” is a story about family, human injury, suffering, death, life, beauty, and extraordinary strength. In these pages, I feel artist Fred Terna’s indomitable spirit, his profound wisdom, and considerable insights about life before and during the Third Reich. Perhaps, more importantly, in them, I see lessons germane and apropos for today. — Willa M. Johnson, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Sociology, University of MississippiJulia Mayer's “Painting Resilience: The Life and Art of Fred Terna” interweaves the language of the art works and the personal stories of Fred Terna and his first wife Stella who survived Terezin and Auschwitz. The biography addresses traumatic memories of survivors that one can never escape. — Renate Evers, Director of Collections, Leo Baeck Institute New YorkIn “Painting Resilience,” the talented Julia Mayer depicts recurring motifs running through Fred Terna’s work, and explores how life and art intersect before, during, and after the Holocaust. Taking you inside Terna's studio to understand his process and his philosophy, Mayer invites you to share in her and Terna’s deep personal rapport. — Kate Chertavian, Founder, Kate Chertavian Fine Art
