Ida Gerhardi – "And Everything Danced"

The painter Ida Gerhardi (1862–1927) is one of those female artists whose achievements and significance in her own time have now been almost forgotten. After studying at the School for Women Artists in Munich, Gerhardi lived in Paris from 1891 onwards, where she made a name for herself as a German artist. She built a reputation as a portraitist and networker, who also arranged contacts and exhibition opportunities for fellow artists in Paris and elsewhere. She was acquainted with prominent art collectors such as Karl Ernst Osthaus, was a member of the Berlin Secession and the German Artists' Association, and a co-founder of the German Lyceum Club. In 1913, Ida Gerhardi was forced to leave Paris due to ill health and return to her hometown of Lüdenscheid. She was only able to continue her artistic work to a limited extent. The exhibition at the Kollwitz Museum focuses on Ida Gerhardi's time in Paris, highlighting in particular her expressive dance paintings and depictions of Parisian nightlife, as well as her striking self-portraits. Gerhardi strolled through Paris alone and visited dance halls on her own – both of which were highly unusual for a woman at the time. From 1903 onwards, she began to explore these scenes artistically. In art history, she is thus a pioneer, as no woman before her had painted these subjects. During her wanderings through the bars and dive bars in 1904, whilst on her two-month stay in Paris, Käthe Kollwitz had been accompanied by the art dealer Wilhelm Uhde (1874–1947). During this time, a deep affection grew between the two artists, which developed into a friendship maintained across the distance between them. The two women also found common ground artistically in the theme of self-portraits. It is therefore a priority for the Kollwitz Museum in Berlin to honour this fellow artist of Käthe Kollwitz in an exhibition. As early as six years ago, whilst the museum was still at its former location, attempts were made to organise an exhibition entitled 'Ida Gerhardi – Und alles tanzte'. Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted two attempts to stage this exhibition at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin. It was only after the move to the Theaterbau and the completion of all construction work that this long-planned exhibition could finally be realised. It is the artist's first exhibition in Berlin in 25 years. Back then, the now-defunct Verborgene Museum had dedicated itself to this forgotten body of work. On display are around 40 paintings and drawings by Ida Gerhardi, predominantly from her time in Paris around 1905.