Ella Bergmann-Michel (20 October 1896 – 8 August 1971) was a German abstract artist, photographer and documentary filmmaker. An early student of constructivist art in Germany, her contributions to modern abstract art are often forgotten in American art culture. Bergmann-Michel’s style was very specialized and unique, especially considering the restrictive time in which she was actively working. Most of her work is not titled or signed, making it hard to identify and find in today's art market.

Early life

Bergmann-Michel began making art at an early age. By 1915 she experimented with a collage technique in the constructivist style. By using wood, metal and any other obscure material Bergmann-Michel would create very exact and scientific looking collages. From 1917 to 1920 she studied at the Weimar Hochschule für Bildenden Kunste under the German painter

Walther Klemm Walther Klemm (June 18, 1883 – August 11, 1957) was a German painter, printmaker, and illustrator. He was born in Karlsbad and studied at the University of Applied Arts Vienna and the University of Vienna. In 1904 he exhibited with t ...

. By the 1920s Bergmann-Michel had begun to expand her technique even more. In a time when abstract art was considered a lesser art form, Bergmann-Michel incorporated poetry into abstract pieces; she would paste words of meaning right on top of the canvas, as well as paint words on. Bergmann became one of the first artists of the constructivist movement to incorporate photography into her artwork, this was a very important advancement of abstract art, one that was used often by more contemporary artists such as

Andy Warhol Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...

Artistic style

Constructivism was an art form developed early in the twentieth century;

Vladimir Tatlin Vladimir Yevgrafovich Tatlin ( – 31 May 1953) was a Russian and USSR, Soviet painter, architect and stage-designer. Tatlin achieved fame as the architect who designed The Monument to the Third International, more commonly known as Tatlin's Towe ...

first established it. The new form of art took on different meaning in the different European nations, but the consistency was that it referenced the social and economic problems that the artists felt represented Europe through abstract means. In Bergmann-Michel’s homeland of Germany, Constructivism showed its greatest impact through the

Bauhaus school The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 2009 ...

, which was established for the development of the art form. Bergmann-Michel underpinned that she cared “not so much for the concentrated stillness of an object, but for the modern and eventful world" and sought to "record time, similar to the photographs by

Xanti Schawinsky Alexander Schawinsky, known as Xanti Schawinsky (March 25, 1904 – September 11, 1979) was a Swiss painter, photographer and theatre designer. An alumnus of the Bauhaus, Schawinsky belonged to Bauhaus founder and architect Walter Gropius' social ...

Marriage and war

In 1919, Bergmann-Michel married Robert Michel. Together they pioneered the use of collage using photographs. Their work was included in '' Société Anonyme'', a collection of works by predominantly European

Dada Dada () or Dadaism was an art movement of the European avant-garde in the early 20th century, with early centres in Zürich, Switzerland, at the Cabaret Voltaire (in 1916). New York Dada began c. 1915, and after 1920 Dada flourished in Pari ...

artists. In 1920, Bergmann-Michel and her husband moved to Vockenhausen, near

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

Germany. While in Frankfurt she decorated much of the

Bauhaus The Staatliches Bauhaus (), commonly known as the Bauhaus (), was a German art school operational from 1919 to 1933 that combined crafts and the fine arts.Oxford Dictionary of Art and Artists (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 4th edn., 20 ...

school's minimalist walls. Bergmann-Michel continued doing her art until

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

when she was forced to stop, as the pressure of political events made artistic activity hazardous for her. Between 1933 and 1945, Bergmann-Michel stayed intermittently in London. Being a failed painter himself, Hitler abhorred abstract art of all types. Bergmann-Michel worked on her family’s farm until the war ended. Once the war ended Bergmann-Michel went back to her art. During the 1950s she gave lectures on the development of modern painting and avant-garde films and in the 1960s continued her development of ''Prism Pictures''. In the later years she continued to make picture collages and vertical/horizontal compositions, none of which are titled.

Legacy

Through her life Ella Bergmann-Michel toured Zurich,

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...

and the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Her art is distinctive, interesting, and found primarily in European art markets. It is unknown how many paintings and pieces that Bergmann-Michel completed; her art is more important for the movement that it helped to propel, rather than individual pieces themselves. Bergmann-Michel is one of many lost artists of Germany during the era.

Filmography

*''Wo wohnen alte Leute.'' (1931) *''Erwerbslose kochen für Erwerbslose.'' (1932) *''Fliegende Händler in Frankfurt am Main.'' (1932) *''Fischfang in der Rhön.'' (1932) *
Wahlkampf 1932.
' (1932/33)

References

External links

"Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896 - 1971)." 03/06/06
(accessed October 25, 2006).

(accessed October 25, 2006).
Peter Nahum At the Leicester Galleries." 03/05/2004
(accessed October 25, 2006).

(accessed October 25, 2006).
Ella Bergmann-Michel: Documentary films 1931-1933
(accessed August 27, 2013). {{DEFAULTSORT:Bergmann-Michel, Ella 1896 births 1971 deaths German women artists Place of death missing Constructivism (art)