The New Woman. The image of modernity was shaped by women artists and designers
Alma de l’Aigle, Anni Albers, Marianne Amthor, Ruth Bessoudo, Elise Blumann, Jutta Bossard-Krull, Maya Chrusecz, Grete Gross, Elsbeth Köster, Alen Müller-Hellwig, Trude Petri, Marlene Poelzig, Hildi Schmidt Heins and Sophie Taeuber-Arp
iCAT of the HFBK Hamburg, 20 September to 27 October 2024 / curated by Ina Jessen
The 1920s, also known as the ‘Roaring Twenties’, are a symbol of new beginnings as well as political and social realities. The clichés of misery and lust, poverty and pleasure are outdated. In the wake of the First World War and its social and economic aftershocks, Germany saw a surge in the fight for new freedoms. In 1919, women’s rights saw significant emancipatory changes come into force. The introduction of women’s suffrage was a significant turning point. It marked the opening of German art academies to women, reflecting the broader shift towards political and social equality. The New Woman, a marginalised phenomenon of the 19th century, became the role model of these changes, as demands for self-determination and equal rights, individual self-determination, free choice of profession and the overcoming of classism gained ground.
This exhibition is dedicated to women artists who studied at the Staatliche Kunstgewerbeschule zu Hamburg, the predecessor institution of the HFBK. It explores the contradictory times of new beginnings and setbacks during and after the First World War. Women were able to access artistic studies here relatively early on and were permitted to attend selected courses as ‘guest students’ from April 1907 onwards. However, this did not secure their place in art history. In fact, the art market, museums and researchers took comparatively little notice of their work. Many artists and designers were nevertheless able to assert themselves, but fascism put an end to the freedom they had fought for. Others managed to achieve their goals through the adverse circumstances of emigration.
The first historical exhibition at the Institute for Contemporary Art & Transfer (ICAT) of the HFBK Hamburg focuses on selected female artists who were active students between 1907 and 1930. It also addresses some of the gaps in our knowledge about these artists and their work. The exhibition and digital publication will present the works, studies, biographies and art historical developments of selected female artists. The tour is divided into chapters on artistic positions, with sections on painting, sculpture, architecture, ceramics, photography, textiles, commercial art and prints.
This project is dedicated to visualising these women artists, some of whom have been overlooked in our present-day context. It focuses on their works and designs from their early years at the School of Arts and Crafts, as well as their artistic and creative developments.