Aranyfüst. Illustrations and book decoration by Ladislas Medgyes. Budapest, Ráth Mór, 1913. | src Jeschke van VlietAranyfüst. Illustrationen sowie Buchschmuck von Ladislas Medgyes. Budapest, Ráth Mór, 1913. | src Jeschke van VlietAranyfüst. Illustrations and book decoration by Ladislas Medgyes. Budapest, Ráth Mór, 1913. | src Jeschke van Vliet
One of the most beautiful Hungarian Art Nouveau books. It contains twenty short stories by Ladislas Medgyes, the Hungarian avant-garde graphic artist and stage designer. His first exhibitions were held in the gallery of the most important Hungarian avant-garde magazine “MA”, which also published his works in print. From the 1920s he lived in Paris, where he founded his school (École Medgyes pour la Technique du Théâtre) of stage design together with the Hungarian architect Erno Goldfinger. He worked as an interior designer all over Europe and in the USA. (quoted from Jeschke Van Vliet)
Die Gauklerin ~ The Juggler (by Hoffmann von Vestenhof). Published in Jugend magazine, 1898, Nr. 38 [Detail]Die Gauklerin ~ The Juggler (Hoffmann von Vestenhof). Jugend Magazin, 1898. Nr. 38. | src Universitätsbibliothek Heidelberg
Jeanne Mammen :: Sie repräsentiert (och Selbstbild), um 1928. [watercolor, pencil] Bild: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017 | src Svenska.yle
Watercolorist, painter, printmaker. Raised in Paris. Studied art in Paris, Brussels, and Rome from 1906 until 1911. As a German citizen, was forced to flee France with her family at outbreak of World War I; lost all possessions. Impoverished, settled in Berlin in 1916, where she eventually earned a living making illustrations for fashion magazines and posters for Universum-Film AG (UFA), the film distributor.
After 1924 frequently published drawings and watercolors in major satirical periodicals such as Ulk and Simplicissimus, for which she chronicled the experiences of Berlin’s crop-haired, self-reliant “new women” at work and leisure — experiences that mirrored her own. Often showed them in cramped, distorted spaces, some rendered in lurid tones reminiscent of Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec and others in brilliant, orphic colors of the prewar Parisian avant-garde. Enjoyed growing commercial and critical success; in 1930 had first solo exhibition at Galerie Gurlitt in Berlin. At publisher Wolfgang Gurlitt’s behest, made lithographs illustrating a book of erotic Sapphic poetry, Les Chansons de Bilitis, in 1931–32, which was banned by the Nazis.
Under Nazi dictatorship, remained in Germany but lived in a state of “inner emigration”; refused to exhibit or publish. Turned increasingly to painting in Cubist and Expressionist styles out of solidarity with artists who Nazis defamed as degenerate.
Jeanne Mammen :: Zwei Frauen, tanzend (Two women, dancing), ca. 1928. [Aquarell, Bleistift]. Bild: VG Bild-Kunst, Bonn 2017. | src Svenska.yleJeanne Mammen :: Die Rothaarige | The Redhead (Thoughts at the Hairdresser’s), um 1928. Drawing, watercolour and pencil on paper. | src Berlinische Galerie
Jeanne Mammen (1890–1976) made her name in the late 1920s with illustrations for magazines like Simplicissimus, Ulk and Jugend. In an enthusiastic review, Kurt Tucholsky wrote that her figures leaped “from the paper with skin and hair”. Mammen’s favourite motif were women in the city: in a café, at a ball, at the bar or in some sleazy joint. “The Redhead”, printed in Ulk in 1928, sits in the hairdresser’s chair. She is lost in thought as she looks towards the viewer: we are her mirror. The hairdresser is just finishing off the job. The look is perfect: the pale smock, the white skin, the brown shades in the background are an ideal background to set off her red hair, her lips and the blue shadow around her catlike eyes. “The Redhead”is a vamp rather than the sassy athletic young lass more typical of the times. This capricious creature exudes an air of cold detachment. Her beauty is not intended to seduce but is sufficient unto itself. [quoted from Berlinische Galerie]
Walter Schnackenberg :: Ballet und Pantomime ‘Primula Vera’ (Lo Hesse), plate # 7, 1920. | src 1st dibs
“Schnackenberg was a regular contributor to the German magazines Jugend and Simplicissimus before devoting himself to the design of stage scenery and costumes. In the artist’s theatrical work, his mastery of form, ornamentation, and Orientalism became increasingly evident. He excelled at combining fluid Art Nouveau outlines, with spiky Expressionist passages, and the postures and patterns of the mysterious East.” (quoted from source)