Until 16 September 2024 at the Polin Museum

Proof that an artistic calling, a hidden or repressed vocation, can emerge late in life, Helena Berlewi began painting in 1952, at the age of 79. And she didn’t stop until her death at the age of 103. This Polish-Jewish survivor of the Shoah took the artist’s name of Hel Enri. Sitting at home, watching the snow fall and wondering what to do, the sight of yellow mimosas in the vase on her table gave her the idea to pick up some paintbrushes. The flowers became part of her work, going beyond their form and tending towards abstraction. Her work has been shown in some thirty exhibitions around the world.

“Bio-faktura.” The Paintings of Hel Enri | Muzeum Historii Żydów Polskich POLIN w Warszawie