The Story of Art Without Men

by Katy Hessel

Although short-lived due to the rise of Nazism, this period redefined what had been German artistic identity, energising the art world and producing some of the greatest, most forward-thinking works of the early twentieth century. With her cropped hair and trouser suits, Jeanne Mammen (1890–1976) epitomised the modern woman, embracing same-sex desire in her vibrant Berlin nightclub scenes. Successful, radical and a cunning observer of the day (regularly publishing her satirical drawings in magazines), she depicted women who were bold, glamorous, sensual and free, and her images erupt with colour, rhythm and movement: you can almost sense the pounding music in her jazz-fuelled scenes.