The exhibition Jeanne Mammen: City of Women has opened at the Des Moines Art Center, on view through December 12, 2010.
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 able 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.
These 13 watercolors from the Art Center’s permanent collection present scenes Mammen captured from Berlin’s decadent Weimar era.
Organized by Laura Burkhalter, associate curator, Des Moines Art Center; generously supported by Marty Gross.
Image: Jeanne Mammen (German, 1890 – 1976) Karneval, c. 1931 Watercolor and pencil on paper, 17 3/4 x 14 inches Des Moines Art Center Permanent Collections; Gift of Dr. Joseph H. Seipp, Baltimore, MD, 1974.94
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