Das ‚Etwas nach dem Nichts‘: Marie-Louise von Motesiczkys Gemälde Gespräch in der Bibliothek

Abstract Marie-Louise von Motesiczky’s painting Gespräch in der Bibliothek (Conversation in the Library) relates back to a specific historical constellation insofar as it highlights the interwoven stories of Elias Canetti, Franz Baermann Steiner, and the painter herself, but also of H. G. Adler during the early years of their British exile. Although the painting does not include and likely does not even explicitly refer to H. G. Adler, he saved Steiner’s library from destruction, which made him an integral part of the intellectual exchange that is depicted here, since the library plays a central role in the portrait. Numerous notes and letters in Steiner’s and Adler’s estates testify to the close net of all four protagonists. The article discusses the crucial role of book collections as a mainstay of the three authors’ self-conception and intellectual self-positioning in the wake of the Holocaust, and the continuing impact of this intellectual network visible throughout the dispersed papers of the authors and the painter.