Jeanne Mammen (1890-1976) – “best Seife”

Jeanne Mammen (1890-1976) - "Best Seife" circa 1925-1929 mixed media charcoal and watercolor signed lower right "J.MAMMEN"

Jeanne Mammen (1890-1976) is a German painter and draftsman. Her works are part of the movements of New Objectivity and Symbolism. In 1927, her paintings and drawings appeared in numerous newspapers, magazines and satirical journals such as "Jugend", "Die Dame", "Die Schöne Frau", "Der Junggeselle", "Simplicissimus", "Uhu" and "Ulk". Her illustrations offer a critical look at the failings of Berlin society, where bourgeois, socialites and lesbians coexist. Our composition illustrates this approach well. In the agitation and exuberance of the scenes depicted, we can perceive the artist's sarcasm, which highlights the futility of certain aspects of the modern world. The bourgeois men, comfortably seated in their seats alongside young socialites, are visibly caricatured, as is the male character in the foreground who pinches the buttocks of one of his two companions. Could this be the gaze of an artist attentive to gender issues, denouncing a machismo still very present in this society of the 1920s, where women were seeking to emancipate themselves?