Rau Dawes, Ann (2013) Milein Cosman: a critique of the biography and representation of the Jewish emigre artist between 1939-1959. (MA(R) thesis), Kingston University, .

Abstract

"Milein Cosman: a critique of the biography and representation of the Jewish emigre artist between 1939-1959" is a critical assessment of the identity of the emigre artist, Milein Cosman, born in 1921, who arrived in England immediately before the outbreak of World War II. It is with special reference to her first twenty years in England, years that will incorporate the Second World War and the immediate post-war years. It will concentrate on investigating her identity, and especially her identity as an emigre artist. This thesis comprises a critical analysis of her artistic environment and biography in the context of representations of an emigre artist. The thesis argues that while there are dominant and prevailing narratives of form and content in the lives and images of emigre artists, Cosman's work and narrative suggests other, arguably 'unexpected' or unusual readings of such artists. Indeed, a critical approach to her life and art, in the context of dominant readings of emigre art in Britain, offers perspectives on the introduction of such artists to Britain that emphasise aspects otherwise absent or unrecognised in narratives of other emigre art. There is also an investigation into whether or not the concepts of loss and trauma appear in her art, as loss and trauma might be visible or apparent in the work of emigre artists. It also examines her time in Oxford, when she studied at The Slade School of Art in the early to middle years of the Second World War, and observes her time after leaving Oxford, since when she has lived in Hampstead. It also considers the similarities and differences in these periods of her life, in addition to examining the differences and similarities between living in these two locations. It concludes with a resume of her identity as an emigre artist.

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