Women Artists in Expressionism - by Shulamith Behr (Hardcover)

About the Book

"Featuring a selection of women artists active between 1890 to 1924, this book investigates divergent responses to the dramatic historical events and structural transformations during the early twentieth century. It reveals their efforts, with greater or relative success, to negotiate the competitive market economy of the late Wilhelmine empire and the uncertainties of the early Weimar Republic. In examining these artists, Shulamith Behr uncovers the overlooked importance of women's emancipative ideals to the development of avant-garde culture. Behr explores the richness of the women's engagement with and shaping of Expressionism, the modern art movement noted for its intention to express the emotional-rather than physical-reality of the artist. Behr examines the posthumous critical reception of Paula Modersohn-Becker as a prime agent of the feminization of the movement; Kèathe Kollwitz's use of printmaking as a vehicle for technical innovation and socio-political commentary; and the dynamic relationship between Marianne Werefkin and Gabriele Mèunter, including their different national and cultural origins and paths towards Expressionism in the Blaue Reiter, a group of artists that included Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Additional chapters examine the role of Herwarth Walden's and Nell Walden's role as art dealers who promoted women Expressionists during the First World War, Mèunter's encounter with Swedish Expressionism in Scandinavia, and the recognition of Dutch-born abstractionist Jacoba van Heemskerck as an honorary German Expressionist"--

Book Synopsis

A beautifully illustrated examination of the women artists whose inspired search for artistic integrity and equality influenced Expressionist avant-garde culture

Women Artists in Expressionism explores how women negotiated the competitive world of modern art during the late Wilhelmine and early Weimar periods in Germany. Their stories challenge predominantly male-oriented narratives of Expressionism and shed light on the divergent artistic responses of women to the dramatic events of the early twentieth century.

Shulamith Behr shows how the posthumous critical reception of Paula Modersohn-Becker cast her as a prime agent of the feminization of the movement, and how Käthe Kollwitz used printmaking as a vehicle for technical innovation and sociopolitical commentary. She looks at the dynamic relationship between Marianne Werefkin and Gabriele Münter, whose different paths in life led them to the Blaue Reiter, a group of Expressionist artists that included Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. Behr examines Nell Walden's role as an influential art dealer, collector, and artist, who promoted women Expressionists during the First World War, and discusses how Dutch artist Jacoba van Heemskerck's spiritual abstraction earned her the status of an honorary German Expressionist. She demonstrates how figures such as Rosa Schapire and Johanna Ey contributed to the development of the movement as spectators, critics, and collectors of male avant-gardism.

Richly illustrated, Women Artists in Expressionism is a women-centered history that reveals the importance of emancipative ideals to the shaping of modernity and the avant-garde.

Review Quotes

"The book is well researched, providing an absorbing picture of some neglected figures and revealing the interminable discord between sexes."---Christian Kile, Sehepunkte

About the Author

Shulamith Behr (1946-2023) was honorary research fellow at the Courtauld Institute of Art, University of London. Her books include Expressionism; Conrad Felixmüller, 1897-1977: Works on Paper; and Women Expressionists.