Desk Murder

Interior of office with table, desk and three chairs. Subject deals with the legacy of the Holocaust and the banality of evil unleased by faceless bureaucrats. The final title was chosen 14 years after the artist began the painting when he read the obituary of Walter Rauff, 'Schreibtischtaeter' ('desk-murderer'), an SS officer who designed mobile gas vans used before concerntration camps became operational. The fragment of canvas attached to the centre of the work depicts a fume-emitting contraption representing the latter.