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Artist Profile: Robert Russell
February 24, 2025
During the COVID-19 pandemic, artist Robert Russell created a series of paintings of porcelain teacups he found on eBay. He became curious about the history of porcelain, particularly the German manufacturer Meissen, the oldest still-operating manufacturer of porcelain in the world. During that research, he happened upon a photograph of Adolph Hitler and Heinrich Himmler, a high-ranking commander of the Nazi Schutzstaffel . The major paramilitary of elite guards organized under Hitler and the Nazi party in Germany were shown posing at a porcelain factory.
The photograph shows the two men viewing a series of porcelain soldier figurines that Himmler himself had commissioned as gifts for other members of the Schutzstaffel. Himmler believed that every German home should have art, especially porcelain, and even started his own porcelain factory in Allach. Soon, his factory could not keep up with production needs. As many able-bodied factory workers fought on the eastern front, Himmler, as overseer of all concentration camps, moved his porcelain production to the Dachau concentration camp. Dachau was one of the first and longest-running camps, built on the grounds of an abandoned munitions factory with the intent of forced labor for those imprisoned there. Open for over a decade, Dachau had over 188,000 inmates before it was liberated by U.S. forces.
In 2022, motivated by his research, Russell began to paint the porcelain figurines that were created during the Nazi regime. At first glance, the paintings may appear to be just portraits of deer, dogs, and rabbits, but his images reveal a horrific backstory. While the original objects were just a few inches tall, Russell purposely painted them larger than life, turning them into sickeningly sweet monsters. Russell’s painting in the GVSU Art Museum Collections represents an Alsatian dog, a German breed of working dog more commonly known as a German Sherpard. Hitler adored the loyalty and obedience of the breed, and personally owned multiple German Shepards.
Most importantly, Russell painted these objects to engage with his own Jewish heritage, hoping his audience would not only learn about the history behind these objects but to feel it on a deeper level. On this project, he concludes, “One of the ways that I’m thinking about these paintings is that I’m turning these figurines into Jewish objects. As a Jew who is engaging with this history and responding to it, I consider these paintings Jewish artworks. I like to imagine that, if someone were to research Allach porcelain now, they would encounter my work. I want to embed myself in the story and make it one of Jewish reclamation.”
Robert Russell, Grosse Schäferhund 1, oil on canvas, 2022, Gift of an Anonymous donor, 2024.17.1.