JOHANNA EY: a critical reappraisal by Michael Hausmann A thesis submitted to The University of Birmingham for the degree of Doctorate of Philosophy Volume 1 Department of German Studies School of Languages, Cultures, Art History and Music College of Arts and Law The University of Birmingham May 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This study draws on and interprets an extensive corpus of archived materials, in particular from the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf, to offer the first wide-ranging critical analysis of the written and visual images of the life and legend of Weimar Germany’s most important ‘modern’ art dealers - Johanna Ey (1864 - 1947), commonly known as ‘Mutter Ey’. Once feted by the press as the most portrayed woman in Germany, she contributed greatly to the careers of artists such as Max Ernst, Otto Dix, Gert Wollheim, Otto Pankok and many others and was a vital figure in the ‘modern’ Düsseldorf art scene until she was evicted from her gallery by the Nazis in 1934. This study opens with a factual overview of Ey’s biography. Chapters are then devoted to an analysis of the development, reception and prevalence of aspects of her legend: the use of the ‘Mutter Ey’ image in the Weimar Period; an exploration of the notion of Ey’s modernity using the trope of the ‘Neue Frau’; an investigation into her attitude to politics in general and the Nazis in particular, in the first detailed reading of Ey’s 1936 memoirs and her correspondence from 1933-1947; and an analysis of the factors influencing the rise, fall and rise of her celebrity status and her memorialisation since her death. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to my mother, my father, my brother, my girlfriend and my supervisors Professor Bill Dodd and Professor Shearer West for all their help and support. Table of Contents Declaration Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations List of Illustrations: Chapter 1: Johanna Ey: The Legend and the Life 1 Chapter 2: The Image of ‘Mutter Ey’ in the Weimar Period 21 Chapter 3: Johanna Ey: ‘Neue Frau’? 43 Chapter 4: ‘Ich sitze hier in meinem “Exil”’: A reading of Ey’s 1936 memoirs 71 Chapter 5: ‘Mist ist überall’: A reading of Ey’s correspondence from 1933- 1947 118 Chapter 6: Ey’s celebrity 157 Chapter 7: Conclusion 204 Bibliography 210 See Volume 2 of this thesis for the illustrations Declaration This PhD builds on the primary and secondary, written and visual sources gathered in the course of the research for my MPhil ‘Johanna Ey and the Young Rhineland’ (Hausmann, 2007) and expands upon and re-works certain concepts developed during this process. I have endeavoured to reference with the utmost care all ideas and information used in this PhD which are not my own, and a full list of sources used and consulted is available in the bibliography. Those individuals I interviewed were given a chance to review the quotes and ideas attributed to them to ensure they felt accurately represented and where issues of copyright were thought to be a problem, permission has been sought. The format and punctuation used throughout this thesis has been informed by the MHRA style guide (MHRA, 2002). Acknowledgements I would like to thank the Arts and Humanities Research Council for providing the bursary which supported me throughout this PhD. I am also hugely indebted to my supervisors Professor Bill Dodd of the German Department and Professor Shearer West of the History of Art Department at the University of Birmingham for their excellent support and guidance throughout the course of my postgraduate study. I would also like to thank Dr Annette Baumeister of the Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf for sharing her knowledge about Johanna Ey and Das Junge Rheinland and allowing me access to Ey’s private letters and to the vast collection of articles about the art dealer. My utmost gratitude is also reserved for Günter Goebbels of Langenfeld, Germany, a tireless scholar of Düsseldorf art and local history who supplied me with an abundance of material and was extremely generous in sharing his time and knowledge. Thanks must also go to Günther Müller-Pudlich and Sven Zweier who allowed me access to the private documents, letters, photos and art works of the artist Robert Pudlich and his wife Ma Pudlich, both of whom had contact with Ey. I would also like to thank Dr Peter Barth of Gallery Remmert und Barth, Düsseldorf, for his interview and for putting me in touch with Günter Goebbels and Günther Müller-Pudlich. I am also indebted to Frau Dr Drenker-Nagels of the August Macke Museum in Bonn for the interview and literature she gave me. Thanks must also go to the staff at the University of Birmingham libraries, the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie library and archive, the Universtitäts- und Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf and the Museum Kunstpalast for providing me with invaluable primary and secondary literature, and to Herr and Frau Traub for their help in transcribing handwritten letters by Ey. Finally, I would like to thank my mother, my father, my brother, and my girlfriend for their continued help, support and advice throughout this PhD. List of Abbreviations *: born †: died a.k.a.: also known as ed.: editor edn: edition eds: editors Fig.: figure Hrsg.: Herausgeber Jg: Jahrgang N.a.: not applicable n.au.: no author n.au.l.: no author legible n.b./n.a.: no box or accession number n.d.: no date n.n.pub.: no name of publication n.ph.n.: no photographer named n.pl.p.: no place of publication n.pn.: no page number n.pub.: no publisher Nr: number n.t.: no title m.u.: media unknown pp.: pages from and to pub.: published repr.: reprint S.D.A.: Stadtmuseum Düsseldorf archive s.u.: size unknown trans.: translated by v.c.: various contributions vol.: volume vols: volumes w.u.: whereabouts unknown List of Illustrations The illustrations are located in Volume 2 of this thesis. Figure 1: Otto Dix, Bildnis der Kunsthändlerin Johanna Ey, 1924, oil on canvas, 138 cm x 89 cm, on loan to K20 (Düsseldorf) from a private collection (front cover of Barth, 1984). Figure 2: N.ph.n., photo of Johanna Ey circa 1900 (Barth, 1984, p. 15). Figure 3: N.ph.n., Ratinger Strasse 32, circa 1920, n.n.pub., S.D.A. Figure 4: N.ph.n., Ratinger Strasse 45, n.n.pub., S.D.A. Figure 5: N.ph.n., Ratinger Strasse, n.n.pub., S.D.A. Figure 6: N.ph.n., Ey and her daughter Lisbet (Elisabeth) in her coffee shop, 1912 (Schreiner, 1926, p. 42. Information about date: Klapheck, 1958, p. 19). Figure 7: N.ph.n., ‘Wieder in Düsseldorf, Juli 1947: Frau Ey [...und] Otto Pankok’ (Klapheck, 1958, p. 53). Figure 8: N.ph.n., Johanna Ey in front of her gallery (Hindenburgwall 11) in 1929 (Barth, 1984, p. 25). Figure 9: Arthur Kaufmann, Die Zeitgenossen, 1925, oil on canvas, 182 x 245.5 cm, S.D.A. (front cover of Das Junge Rheinland, 1988). Figure 10: Front cover of Das Ey, Heft 1, 1 July 1920 (Das Ey, Heft 1, 1920). Photocopy from microfilm at the Landesbibliothek Düsseldorf. Figure 11: N.ph.n., Otto Dix and Johanna Ey, n.d. (Klapheck, 1958, p. 30). Figure 12: Front cover of Das Junge Rheinland, Heft 1, 1 October 1921 (Das Junge Rheinland, Heft 1). Photo by Hausmann from original held in the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie library. Figure 13: Front cover of Katalog der Ersten Internationalen Kunstausstellung Düsseldorf 1922 (Katalog, 1922). Photocopy of original held in the Düsseldorfer Kunstakademie library. Figure 14: Photo by Ma Pudlich, wife of artist Robert Pudlich, Johanna Ey and Robert Pudlich, 1929, presumably taken at the back of Ey’s gallery at Hindenburgwall 11 (Baumeister, 1999, p. 152). Figure 15: N.ph.n., photo of Ey and Jacobo Sureda, n.d. (Querschnitt, 1928: Klapheck, 1958, p. 48). Figure 16: N.ph.n., Johanna Ey in her gallery Friedrichplatz 1 (Postamt 8), circa 1930, S.D.A. (Baumeister, 1999, p. 131). Figure 17: Photos of Johanna Ey’s grave of honour (Area 26, Number 12-13, Nordfriedhof Düsseldorf). Includes photos of surroundings and other graves for comparative purposes. Photo of gravestone by Hausmann, December 2005. All other photos July 2009 by Hausmann. Width of headstone 78 cm, height 50 cm. Area of grave not planted by high shrubs: deepest point 260 cm, widest point 250 cm. All values approximate. Figure 18: Photos of ‘Mutter Ey-Strasse’ in the Düsseldorf Altstadt. Photo of sign 2006. Photos of surroundings July 2009. All by Hausmann. Figure 19: Ernst Gottschalk, Mutter Ey und (?) ihre Küken, n.d., m.u., s.u., w.u. (Klapheck, 1958, p. 61). Figure 20: Fritz Westendorp, Johanna Ey als Hebamme bei der Geburt des “Jungen Rheinland” 1919, 21/06/19(?), m.u., s.u., Museum Düsseldorf (Klapheck, 1958, p. 33). Figure 21: Karl Schwesig, Porträt Johanna Ey, 1923, ink on paper, 24.5 cm x 20.6 cm, w.u. (Barth, 2007, p. 152). Inscription reads: ‘Johanna Ey genannt Sebus (viel besungen), die die schweren Jungrheinlandkämpfe an der Westfront mitmachte /sie teilte Patronen aus, Zigaretten u.