Elfriede Lohse-Wächtler (1899-1940) is considered one of the most important artists of the “New Objectivity” today. The Museum Prinzhorn Collection provides an insight into the painter's estate, which the museum was able to acquire in 2021 with the help of the Schaller-Nikolich Foundation and other support. In addition to many photographs and written documents by the artist and her circle of family and friends, it includes over 250 drawings, lithographs and gouaches, especially from her early and late works.

The Dresden artist, who developed in the circle around Otto Dix, Conrad Felixmüller and Otto Griebel, became a headstrong exponent of Verism in Hamburg in the 1920s, but had little financial success. A first stay in a psychiatric clinic in 1929 was followed by a particularly productive creative phase, but unfortunately also further social decline, until she returned to her Parents in Dresden in 1931 and was permanently sent to the Arnsdorf asylum from 1932. From there she was transferred to the Pirna-Sonnenstein killing centre in 1940. Since the rediscovery of her work in the early 1990s, Lohse-Wächtler has received increasing attention, including many solo exhibitions.

Over the years, however, some perspectives on the artist's life and work have become entrenched. For example, the independence of her paintings is recognised and her female view of the Weimar Republic is celebrated. However, the characteristics of her art have not yet been elaborated enough, nor has their embedding in the complex cultural field of her time. With the acquisition of her estate, the Museum Prinzhorn Collection has become the most important Lohse-Wächtler archive. The intention of the show is to allow visitors to participate in thinking about Lohse-Wächtler and to stimulate an intensive debate. Accordingly, the exhibition with around 130 exhibits does not offer a retrospective overview, but asks questions about her work. The in-depth exploration of this special artist has only just begun.

 

• Flyer for the Exhibition