Lesbian Art Herstory – Jeanne Mammen

In the 1920’s Jeanne Mammen (1890-1976) watercolorist, painter, printmaker was born in Berlin, grew up in Paris where she got her fine arts education, and she lived most of her adult life in Berlin.

“Working in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s, Jeanne Mammen (1890-1976) produced graphics, including nude and semi-nude female figures, for gay and lesbian periodicals. With the coming to power of the anti-gay Nazis, the queer side of Mammen’s illustrating career ended.” (…)
“For lesbian and other feminist magazines published in the free environment of 1920s Berlin, Jeanne Mammen created numerous illustrations of the women’s club “scene,” which prominently featured lesbian sex workers.” – glbtq.com

In the spring of 1933, the Nazi press labeled Mammen’s artwork as “Jewish” and banned publication of her series of eight lithographs illustrating Peter Louys’ “Les Chansons de Bilitis,” an exploration of lesbian love.

Related links

Jeanne Mammen (1890 – 1976) by the blog Butch in Progress with a series of Jeanne Mammens illustrations of lesbian nightlife in Berlin.