The Aesthetics of Loss : German Women's Art of the First World War

The Aesthetics of Loss is a cultural history of German women's art of the First World War that locates the artists' rich visual testimony in the context of the civilian experience of war and wartime loss. Drawing on a fascinating body of visual sources produced throughout the war years, Claudia Siebrecht examines the thematic evolution of women's art from expressions of support for the war effort to more nuanced and ambivalent testimonies of loss and grief. Many of the images are stark woodcuts, linocuts, and lithographs of great iconographical power that acted as narrative tools to deal with the novel, unsettling, and often traumatic experience of war. German female artists developed a unique aesthetic response to the conflict that both expressed emotional distress and allowed them to re-imagine the place of mourning women in wartime society. Historical codes of wartime behaviour and traditional rites of public mourning led female artists to redefine cultural practices of bereavement, question existing notions of heroic death and proud bereavement through art, and to place grief at the centre of women's war experiences. As a cultural, aesthetic, and thematic point of reference, German women's art of the First World War has had a fundamental influence on the European memory and understanding of modern war. Introduction : war experience, visual narrative, and identity -- Female artists and cultural mobilization for war -- The toll of the long war -- Art and grief -- Mourning mothers -- Resurrection, rebirth, and the limits of sacrificial ideology The Aesthetics of Loss' is a cultural history of German women's art of the First World War that locates the artists' rich visual testimony in the context of the civilian experience of war and wartime loss. Drawing on a fascinating body of visual sources produced throughout the war years, Claudia Siebrecht examines the thematic evolution of women's art from expressions of support for the war effort to more nuanced and ambivalent testimonies of loss and grief. Many of the images are stark woodcuts, linocuts, and lithographs of great iconographical power that acted as narrative tools to deal with the novel, unsettling, and often traumatic experience of war. German female artists developed a unique aesthetic response to the conflict that both expressed emotional distress and allowed them to re-imagine the place of mourning women in wartime society __The Aesthetics of Loss__German female artists developed a unique aesthetic response to the conflict that both expressed emotional distress and allowed them to re-imagine the place of mourning women in wartime society. Historical codes of wartime behaviour and traditional rites of public mourning led female artists to redefine cultural practices of bereavement, question existing notions of heroic death and proud bereavement through art, and to place grief at the centre of women's war experiences. As a cultural, aesthetic, and thematic point of reference, German women's art of the First World War has had a fundamental influence on the European memory and understanding of modern war. Cover 1 Contents 10 List of Figures 12 List of Plates 14 List of Abbreviations 16 Introduction: War Experience, Visual Narrative, and Identity 18 1. Female Artists and Cultural Mobilization for War 40 2. The Toll of the Long War 69 3. Art and Grief 92 4. Mourning Mothers 121 5. Resurrection, Rebirth, and the Limits of Sacrificial Ideology 147 Conclusion 166 Appendix I: Statistical Overview 170 Appendix II: Short Biographies 172 Sources and Bibliography 182 Index 202 A 202 B 202 C 202 D 202 E 203 F 203 G 203 H 203 I 203 J 203 K 203 L 203 M 204 N 204 O 204 P 204 R 204 S 204 T 205 U 205 V 205 W 205 Y 205 Z 205