In the Midst of Futurism, Women Depicted with Empathy and Satire
Jeanne Mammen was one of the most talented artists and illustrators to emerge from Germany's Weimar epoch (1919-1933), the period following World War I that culminated in the rise to power of the Nazis.At a time when the predominant style was a frequently harsh and unflattering realism, Mammen dedicated her art to the gently satirical, sometimes sympathetic, representation of Berlin's diverse constituencies, particularly the newly visible lesbian. Working as a magazine illustrator in the years just before World War II, Jeanne Mammen captured a world of raucous nightclubs, smoky cafés, and vibrant street life in her stylized and often critical images. A sharp observer of urban life, Mammen was among the first generation of female artists to live independently, allowing her the chance to roam about 1920s and 30s Europe with a freedom only male artists had previously enjoyed. Unsurprisingly, her images often focus on other independent women, from haughty socialites and fashionable middle class shop girls to street singers and prostitutes. Featuring 13 watercolors from the Art Center’s permanent collection, these scenes present Mammen’s view of Berlin’s decadent Weimar era. Jeanne Mammen: City of Women is organized by Laura Burkhalter, associate curator. Mammen is frequently mentioned in connection with Käthe Kollwitz and Hanna Höch, two artists who also showed a strong engagement in social emancipation, and whose most successful years also date to the Weimar era.

Jeanne Mammen >>

Jeanne Mammen (German, 1896-1976), Karneval (Carnival), c.1931, Watercolor and pencil on paper, 17-¾ x 14", Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Dr. Joseph H. Seipp, Baltimore, MD 1974.94.

Reconstructing the Bare-Faced Witnesses to History

For years reconstruction has been the subject of a heated debate. However, reconstructions can be found since Antiquity, as throughout history buildings have been destroyed and rebuilt if required, for a variety of reasons and with alternating perceptions and definitions of reconstruction. A look at history and a differentiated view at the concepts help to set the problems and arguments in a wider historical context, thus relieving the current discussion of its emotional aspect. With a deliberate recourse, the lost "place of remembrance" is restored as an important bearer of the most diverse meanings by means of a reconstruction. Many reconstructions have never been debated, such as the re-erection of the Campanile at St. Mark’s Square in Venice after its collapse in 1902, others have been integrated into the history of the respective building and have long been historical documents themselves.

Reconstructions >>

Campanile of San Marco in Venice, after its collapse 1902, © From: L'Illustrazione Italiana of 20.7.1902.

Ida Ekblad. Photo: Bonniers Konsthall.