Léo Maillet (1902–1990), Der zerbrochene Spiegel, 1971 (c) Nachlass Léo Maillet
Exhibition preview

Léo Maillet: The Broken Mirror

Special Exhibition / 03/21/2025 - 11/16/2025

In the “Art and Exile” room on the third floor of the permanent exhibition in the Rothschild Palace, we present a special exhibition with works by the exiled artist Léo Maillet (1902–1990).

The work of the painter and graphic artist Léo Maillet, who changed his name in exile from the original Leopold Mayer, reflects the numerous upheavals in his biography. In 1932, when his father died suddenly, he was forced to abandon his art studies—he was in Max Beckmann’s master class—and take over the family business. After the Nazis came to power in 1934, he emigrated to England and Belgium, but then returned to Frankfurt.

Léo Maillet (1902–1990), Le Graveur (Selbstbildnis), 1944 (c) Nachlass Léo Maillet
Léo Maillet (1902–1990), Le Graveur (Selbstbildnis), 1944 (c) Nachlass Léo Maillet

Maillet emigrated again in 1935, this time via Luxembourg to France, where he got by as a photographer and graphic artist. After his dramatic escape from a deportation train, he lived in the French Cévennes under a false identity from 1942 onwards. In 1943, the Gestapo destroyed more than 100 paintings and 100 printing plates he was forced to leave behind in his Paris apartment. Maillet finally managed to escape to Switzerland in 1944.

On the day he left to find sanctuary in Switzerland, in the midst of all the excitement, Maillet broke his shaving mirror. With just a few lines, he sketched his face in the mirror shards; years later, he produced an etching from the drawing.

The self-portraits Maillet created in exile form the core of this special exhibition; they offer symbolic expression to the persecuted artist’s contradictory and precarious existence.

Vernissage

Opening reception is Thursday, March 20, 2025 at 7 p.m. Please register by email at: eroeffnung.jmf@stadt-frankfurt.de

Event location:
Jewish Museum Frankfurt

Opened today: 10:00 – 18:00

  • Museum ticket (permanent exhibition Jewish Museum+Judengasse) normal/reduced
    12€ / 6 €
  • Kombiticket (temporary exhibition+ museum ticket) normal/reduced
    14€ / 7€
  • Temporary Exhibition
    7€
  • Family Card
    20€
  • Frankfurt Pass/Kulturpass
    1€
  • Kids under 18
    free
  • Every last Saturday of the month ("Satourday")
    free
  • Entrance to the building (Life Deli/museum shop/library)
    free
  •  

  • Reduced entry for:

  • Students / Trainees (from 18 years)

  • People with disabilities from 50 % (1 accompanying person free)

  • People doing military or alternative civilian service / unemployed

  • Owners of the Frankfurt Card

  •  

  • Free entry for:

  • Members of the Society of our Friends and Patrons association

  • Birthday children of all ages

  • Children and teenagers up to 17 years

  • Students of the Goethe University / FH / HfMDK

  • Apprentices from Frankfurt

  • Refugees

  • Holders of Museumsufer-Card or Museumsufer-Ticket

  • Members of ICOM or Museumsbund

Link to location Link to location

Bertha-Pappenheim-Platz 1, 60311 Frankfurt am Main

Plane route