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Making modernism : Paula Modersohn-Becker, Käthe Kollwitz, Gabriele Münter, Marianne Werefkin.

Contributor(s): Publisher: London, England : Royal Academy of Arts, [2022]Copyright date: ©2022Description: 165 pages : illustrations (black and white, and colour) ; 28 cmContent type:
  • text
  • still image
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9781912520909
Contained works:
  • Modersohn-Becker, Paula, 1876-1907. Works. Selections
  • Kollwitz, Käthe, 1867-1945. Works. Selections
  • Münter, Gabriele, 1877-1962. Works. Selections
  • Werefkin, Marianne, 1860-1938. Works. Selections
Subject(s): Summary: Käthe Kollwitz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter & Marianne Werefkin are among the exceptional artists associated with the emergence of Expressionism in Germany in the early decades of the 20th century. Each challenged prevailing ideals of feminine identity at a time of great societal change. As women, they were expected to marry & raise a family; some chose to, some did not. As ambitious artists, they wanted to work. As they rose to these challenges, their art further undermined conventions. Their portraits of children symbolise joy, hope & innocence but also melancholy & tension. Their radical depictions of the nude wrest the female body away from the male gaze towards a newfound role, expressive of powerful maternity & female subjectivity. These dramatic modernist compositions, with their fluid brushwork & bright hues, push at the boundaries of form, colour & spiritual meaning.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name held at Royal Academy of Arts, London, 12 November 2022 - 12 February 2023.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Käthe Kollwitz, Paula Modersohn-Becker, Gabriele Münter & Marianne Werefkin are among the exceptional artists associated with the emergence of Expressionism in Germany in the early decades of the 20th century. Each challenged prevailing ideals of feminine identity at a time of great societal change. As women, they were expected to marry & raise a family; some chose to, some did not. As ambitious artists, they wanted to work. As they rose to these challenges, their art further undermined conventions. Their portraits of children symbolise joy, hope & innocence but also melancholy & tension. Their radical depictions of the nude wrest the female body away from the male gaze towards a newfound role, expressive of powerful maternity & female subjectivity. These dramatic modernist compositions, with their fluid brushwork & bright hues, push at the boundaries of form, colour & spiritual meaning.