Jeanne Mammen
artist / painter
Jeanne Mammen is one of the most impressive, unusual and versatile German female artists of the twentieth century. She 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. When comparing Jeanne Mammen to other socially critical male artists of the time, like Otto Dix and George Grosz, a certain resemblance in the selected motifs can be noticed, but there is quite a difference in their vision and style of portrayal. In contrast to Dix and Grosz, Jeanne Mammen’s pictorial statement regarding injustice and the ensuing deplorable social conditions is neither marked by harsh denouncement, nor does it convey pity, and her portrayal of the Bourgeois is without biting malice and condescension. She is the only artist of her time, who, by using her intuitive power and her penetrating eyes, succeeded in delivering precise and cunning portrayals capturing the characteristic physiognomic features, typical of people of all walks of life in the 1930s. She herself once said: “I have always wanted to be just a pair of eyes, walking through the world unseen, only to be able to see others. Unfortunately one was seen….”
The central motif, subject of her human and artistic concern and empathy, were women of all classes in the metropolis. She depicted them in their socially conflicting roles, also drawing attention to their ambivalence. The spirit of these portrayals originates from her own deep innermost experiences, which she expressed in the finest nuances, something that becomes accessible only when, after having experienced the greatest possible distance, one reaches the greatest possible closeness (E. Roters).
Jeanne Mammen’s last creative period ties in with her first one. Born at the beginning of the Symbolist movement, her early literary interests were sparked by the dreamlike, visionary subject matter, an essential ingredient of Symbolistic art, and as she navigated through her long eventful life, she never lost touch with the realms of feeling and imagination. This is quite evident in the different style periods contained in her rich body of work.
Jeanne Mammen
artist / painter
Jeanne Mammen is one of the most impressive, unusual and versatile German female artists of the twentieth century. She 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. When comparing Jeanne Mammen to other socially critical male artists of the time, like Otto Dix and George Grosz, a certain resemblance in the selected motifs can be noticed, but there is quite a difference in their vision and style of portrayal. In contrast to Dix and Grosz, Jeanne Mammen’s pictorial statement regarding injustice and the ensuing deplorable social conditions is neither marked by harsh denouncement, nor does it convey pity, and her portrayal of the Bourgeois is without biting malice and condescension. She is the only artist of her time, who, by using her intuitive power and her penetrating eyes, succeeded in delivering precise and cunning portrayals capturing the characteristic physiognomic features, typical of people of all walks of life in the 1930s. She herself once said: “I have always wanted to be just a pair of eyes, walking through the world unseen, only to be able to see others. Unfortunately one was seen….”
The central motif, subject of her human and artistic concern and empathy, were women of all classes in the metropolis. She depicted them in their socially conflicting roles, also drawing attention to their ambivalence. The spirit of these portrayals originates from her own deep innermost experiences, which she expressed in the finest nuances, something that becomes accessible only when, after having experienced the greatest possible distance, one reaches the greatest possible closeness (E. Roters).
Jeanne Mammen’s last creative period ties in with her first one. Born at the beginning of the Symbolist movement, her early literary interests were sparked by the dreamlike, visionary subject matter, an essential ingredient of Symbolistic art, and as she navigated through her long eventful life, she never lost touch with the realms of feeling and imagination. This is quite evident in the different style periods contained in her rich body of work.
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Ukraine: Updates from MagnumPhotographers in the FieldMagnum Photographers are on the ground in Ukraine documenting the Russian invasion and its impact on life in the country. Here, we are gathering the coverage as it is published alongside stories that report on the international response (more…)
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Nan Goldin / This Will Not End WellPublicationThis is the first book to present a comprehensive overview of Nan Goldin’s work as a filmmaker. Accompanying the retrospective show and tour of the same name, organized by Moderna Museet, Stockholm, the book draws from the nearly dozen slideshows and films (more…)
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Against ApartheidSep 29 – Dec 2, 2023Curated by Ashish Ghadiali, Against Apartheid explores the origins of climate apartheid through the work of international contemporary artists, activists and scientists. UN Special Rapporteur, Philip Alston, has dubbed the potential outcome of anthropogenic climate change as “climate apartheid” (more…)
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TransmissionAug 31 – Dec 3, 2023Here is a radio tower standing tall, which looks like a monument soaring up with some revolutionary force. This is Paik’s Transmission Tower. Shown only at the Rockefeller Center, New York in 2002 and at the Sydney Opera House in 2004, it found its permanent home at Nam June Paik Art Center. (more…)
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In The Next Door RoomPhotography of Lise SarfatiThe awakening of adolescence has been a recurring theme that has always fascinated a great many visual artists; conflicts of identity, physical metamorphosis, psychological instability (more…)
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Roger Ballen: Call of the VoidApr 19 – Oct 29, 2023Roger Ballen: Call of the Void is the eighth in a series of exhibitions at Museum Tinguely under the title Danse macabre with works responding to Jean Tinguely’s late work Mengele – Dance of Death, shown in direct proximity to it. (more…)
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Werner Herzog: The Ecstatic TruthJun 18 – Oct 1, 2023Eye Filmmuseum presents an exhibition and extensive film program around the work of celebrated filmmaker Werner Herzog. With an unorthodox oeuvre of more than seventy features, documentaries and shorts, Herzog has fascinated audiences with unforgettable stories, images and characters for more than half a century. (more…)
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Emma PortnerDANCER / CHOREOGRAPHERDance is my life. It has kept me alive. Performance is a natural extension of it and through it. I’ve made my most cherished human connections. (more…)
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Wallace StevensPoetMore than any other modern poet, Wallace Stevens was concerned with the transformative power of the imagination. (more…)
