Still-life with Mask, Glove, and Football, c.1940

Several objects are arranged on a pink cloth: a soccer ball, a paper rolled to partially reveal the word “ [TOMB]OLA”, (a lottery ticket), an alarm clock, an African death mask, a white glove, and a white and purple pansy. In the background, a full moon hovers in a dark sky, visible over a balcony railing. Nussbaum was in hiding when he painted this picture, and the work is an expression of his fear of the future. The alarm clock represents Nussbaum’s realization that his fate depends on time, which is fast running out. The lottery ticket is a symbol of luck that has changed for the worse, while the specter of death, appearing in the form of an African mask, hovers above all.

Gift of David Susskind, Brussels.
In memory of Salomon Susskind and his wife Mala Lea Gutgold.