Camilla Smith – författare

Jeanne Mammen’s watercolour images of the gender-bending ‘new woman’ and her candid portrayals of Berlin’s thriving nightlife appeared in some of the most influential magazines of the Weimar Republic and are still considered characteristic of much of the ‘glitter’ of that era. This book charts how, once the Nazis came into power, Mammen instead created ‘degenerate’ paintings and collages, translated prohibited French literature and sculpted in clay and plaster—all while hidden away in her tiny studio apartment in the heart of Berlin’s fashionable west end. What was it like as a woman artist to produce modern art in Nazi Germany? Can artworks that were never exhibited in public still make valid claims to protest? Camilla Smith examines a wide range of Mammen’s dissenting artworks, ranging from those created in solitude during inner emigration to her collaboration with artist cabarets after the Second World War. Smith's engaging analysis compares Mammen's popular Weimar work to her artistic activities under the radar after 1933, in order to fundamentally rethink the moral complexities of inner emigration and its visual culture. The examination of Mammen’s life and work demonstrates the crucial role women artists played as both markers and agents of German modernity, but the double marginalisation they have nonetheless encountered as inner émigrés in recent history. It will be of interest to students of German studies, art history, literature, history, gender studies and cultural studies.

Jeanne Mammen’s watercolour images of the gender-bending ‘new woman’ and her candid portrayals of Berlin’s thriving nightlife appeared in some of the most influential magazines of the Weimar Republic and are still considered characteristic of much of the ‘glitter’ of that era. This book charts how, once the Nazis came into power, Mammen instead created ‘degenerate’ paintings and collages, translated prohibited French literature and sculpted in clay and plaster—all while hidden away in her tiny studio apartment in the heart of Berlin’s fashionable west end. What was it like as a woman artist to produce modern art in Nazi Germany? Can artworks that were never exhibited in public still make valid claims to protest? Camilla Smith examines a wide range of Mammen’s dissenting artworks, ranging from those created in solitude during inner emigration to her collaboration with artist cabarets after the Second World War. Smith's engaging analysis compares Mammen's popular Weimar work to her artistic activities under the radar after 1933, in order to fundamentally rethink the moral complexities of inner emigration and its visual culture. The examination of Mammen’s life and work demonstrates the crucial role women artists played as both markers and agents of German modernity, but the double marginalisation they have nonetheless encountered as inner émigrés in recent history. It will be of interest to students of German studies, art history, literature, history, gender studies and cultural studies.

In what ways can erotica chart the story of a nation in transition? What can it reveal about the discontinuities – and uncomfortable parallels – between the periods of political and economic turmoil that characterize modern German history?The rapid modernization of the German Empire in 1871 led to large-scale transformations in the cultural, social, and political spheres. Exploring a rich diversity of erotic visual art – from paintings and photographs, to postcards and graphic folios – this volume reveals the impact of these changes on the erotic interests of the nation.Across diverse forms of artistic production, reception, and circulation, Erotic Art in Modern Germany argues for the significance and cultural value of erotica. It presents work by both highly regarded and lesser-known artists and examines themes such as legal cultures and the impact of censorship, sexuality and sexual reform, and changing political frameworks, from imperialism to fascism. 10 chapters study diverse topics that engage with philological and ethnographic approaches to erotic art, demonstrate how scientific developments shape erotica, and investigate the ways in which works intersect with debates on gender and sexuality.With its holistic, cross-disciplinary approach-drawing from the fields of anthropology, film theory, Marxism, feminism, and trans- and queer theories – the book complicates simplistic understandings of 'modern' erotica and powerfully underlines its enduring significance as a site of dissent and experimentation.