Overview

• Luz’s graphic novel, based on Otto Mueller’s 1919 painting 'Zwei weibliche Halbakte,' examines the artwork's Nazi-era persecution and restitution history.
• The painting, confiscated by the Gestapo in 1935 and labeled 'degenerate art,' was displayed in the Nazis' infamous 1937 'Entartete Kunst' exhibition.
• After being restituted in 1999 to the family of Jewish collector Ismar Littmann, the painting was sold back to the city of Cologne and remains at Museum Ludwig.
• Luz draws personal parallels between the painting’s history and his narrow escape from the 2015 Charlie Hebdo attack, reflecting on themes of trauma and misunderstanding.
• The novel, a major success in France, has now been published in German and is sparking renewed interest in the painting and its historical and contemporary significance.