Neue Frau and Female Representation in Lotte Laserstein’s Paintings between 1927 and 1933

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/ktfg5v20

Keywords:

Lotte Laserstein, Neue Sachlichkeit, German Painting, Gender Roles, Weimar Republic

Abstract

Based mainly on the work by Lotte Laserstein from 1927 to 1933, but also considering other artists active during the Weimar Republic, this text aims at analyzing the neue Frau (New Woman), a social category which arose by that time and addressed the then recent changes regarding gender social roles that took place in that context. We will present the meanings behind that image, in a moment when distinct—and even dissonant—ideological positions struggled for the dominance of the time’s imaginary. Then, we will examine how that image presents itself in the visual arts during that period, emphasizing the differences in perspective presented by both male and female social experiences. Finally, we seek to articulate this debate to Laserstein’s studio paintings, which form a subgroup of works developed in that period that questions the power structures established within the art field.

0 0

Author Biography

  • Lara Casares Rivetti, USP
     

    Doutora pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Visuais da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo (ECA-USP), com financiamento da Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/CAPES, onde realizou pesquisa sobre artes plásticas e cultura de massas na Alemanha da República de Weimar. Estágio de pesquisa realizado na Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, na Alemanha, entre abril e setembro de 2024, com apoio da CAPES/Print. Mestre pelo Programa de Pós-Graduação em Artes Visuais da Escola de Comunicações e Artes da Universidade de São Paulo (ECA-USP, 2019) com pesquisa sobre a obra do artista Antonio Dias nos anos de 1960 e 1970, também financiada pela Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior/CAPES. Possui bacharelado em Letras - Linguística pela Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas da Universidade de São Paulo (FFLCH-USP, 2015). Foi assistente editorial da Revista Ars entre 2019 e 2021 e editora assistente do mesmo periódico entre 2021 e 2023. Atua como preparadora, revisora e tradutora. Publicou traduções de textos de Robert Morris, Kaira Cabañas, Martin Jay e Anne Lafont (este, em pareceria com Liliane Benetti). 

References

Balázs, B. (1928). Sachlichkeit und Sozialismus. Die Weltbühne, 24(2), 916–917.

Becker, S. (2000). Neue Sachlichkeit. 1, Die Ästhetik der neusachlichen Literatur (1920-1933). Böhlau Verlag.

Benjamin, W. (2012a). O autor como produtor. Conferência pronunciada no Instituto para o estudo do fascismo em Paris, 27 de abril de 1934. In Magia e técnica, arte e política: ensaios sobre literatura e história da cultura (pp. 129–146). Brasiliense.

Benjamin, W. (2012b). Pequena história da fotografia. In Magia e técnica, arte e política: ensaios sobre literatura e história da cultura (pp. 97–115). Brasiliense.

Bloch, E. (1990). Heritage of Our Time (Trans. Neville Plaice and Stephen Plaice). University of California Press.

Dix, O. (1979). Das Objekt ist das Primäre. In Schneede, U. M. (Ed.). Die zwanziger Jahre. Manifeste und Dokumente deutscher Künstler (p. 138). DuMont Buchverlag.

Fabris, A. (2003). A fotomontagem como função política. História, 22(1), 11–58. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0101-90742003000100002.

Fabris, A. (2013). Por um realismo crítico. John Heartfield e a história da arte. In Schwartz, J. & Monzani, M. (Eds.). John Heartfield: Fotomontagens (s.p.). Imprensa Oficial do Estado de São Paulo; Museu Lasar Segall.

Haraway, D. (1988). Situated Knowledges: The Science Question in Feminism and the Privilege of Partial Perspective. Feminist Studies, 14(3), 575–599. https://doi.org/10.2307/3178066.

Höch, H. (1993). Lebensüberblick. In Lavin, M. (Ed.). Cut with the Kitchen Knife: The Weimar Photomontages of Hannah Höch (pp. 211–215). Yale University Press.

Kracauer, S. (2009). O ornamento da massa. In O ornamento da massa (pp. 91–103). Cosac Naify.

Krausse, A.-C. (2018). Lotte Laserstein: Meine einzige Wirklichkeit. Deutscher Kunstverlag.

Loureiro, I. (2020). A revolução alemã, 1918-1923. Editora Unesp.

Lukács, G. (2016). Trata-se do realismo!. In Machado, C. E. J. (Ed.). Um capítulo da história da modernidade estética: debate sobre o expressionismo (pp. 247–283). Editora Unesp.

Makela, M. (2002). “A Clear and Simple Style": Tradition and Typology in New Objectivity. Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, 28(1), Negotiating History: German Art and the Past, 38–51+108–109. https://doi.org/10.2307/4113050.

Makela, M. & Boswell, P. (Eds). (1996). The Photomontages of Hannah Höch. Walker Art Center.

McDonough, F. (2023). The Weimar Years: Rise and Fall, 1918-1933. Bloomsbury Publishing.

Meskimmon, M. (1999). We Weren’t Modern Enough: Women Artists and the Limits of German Modernism. University of California Press.

Pedrosa, M. (2015). As tendências sociais da arte e Käthe Kollwitz. In Mammì, L. (Ed.). Mário Pedrosa: arte ensaios (pp. 25–47). Cosac Naify.

Reimers, A. (2022). Otto Dix and Weimar Media Culture: Time, Fashion and Photography in Portrait Paintings of the Neue Sachlichkeit. Peter Lang.

Schmalenbach, F. (1940). The Term Neue Sachlichkeit. The Art Bulletin, 22(3), 161–165.

Stroude, C. & Stroude, A. (1988). Lotte Laserstein and the German Naturalist Tradition. Woman's Art Journal, 9(1), 35–38. https://doi.org/10.2307/1358361.

Tschichold, J. (2012). Photography and Typography. In Aragon, L. et al. Photomontage Between the Wars (1918-1939) (pp. 111–113). Fundación Juan March.

Ward, J. (2001). Weimar Surfaces: Urban Visual Culture in 1920s Germany. University of California Press.

Downloads

Published

2026-10-15

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2026): More Women in Images

Section

Thematic Dossier

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Lara Casares Rivetti

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Articles published in Imagem: Revista de História da Arte are distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0).

This means that anyone has the right to share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format — and adapt — remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, even commercially — provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s), including their name, a link to the license, and an indication of any changes made.

Copyright of the articles remains with the respective authors. Submission implies agreement with these terms.

More information: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

How to Cite

Casares Rivetti, L. (2026). Neue Frau and Female Representation in Lotte Laserstein’s Paintings between 1927 and 1933. Imagem: Revista De História Da Arte, 8(1), e22932. https://doi.org/10.34024/ktfg5v20
Received 2026-08-31
Accepted 2026-09-24
Published 2026-10-15