Dodo, born as ''Dörte Clara Wolff'' (10 February 1907 – 22 December 1998), was a German

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and illustrator of the

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in ) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against German Expressionism, expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle Mannheim, Kunsthalle' ...

Life and work

Dörte Wolff was brought up in a comfortable upper middle-class Jewish environment in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

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From 1923 to 1926, she studied art and fashion illustration at the prestigious Schule Reimann for artists and designers. She initially worked mainly as a fashion illustrator and also designed costumes for

Marlene Dietrich Marie Magdalene "Marlene" DietrichBorn as Maria Magdalena, not Marie Magdalene, according to Dietrich's biography by her daughter, Maria Riva ; however, Dietrich's biography by Charlotte Chandler cites "Marie Magdalene" as her birth name . (, ; ...

and

Diseuse A monologist (), or interchangeably monologuist (), is a solo artist who recites or gives dramatic readings from a monologue, soliloquy, poetry, or work of literature, for the entertainment of an audience. The term can also refer to a person w ...

Margo Lion Margo Allison Lion (October 13, 1944 – January 24, 2020) was a producer for plays and musicals both on Broadway and off-Broadway, known for her role in producing the stage and screen hit ''Hairspray''. Combined, the works Lion produced won 20 ...

Mischa Spoliansky Mischa Spoliansky (28 December 1898 – 28 June 1985) was a Russian-born composer who made his name writing cabaret and revue songs in the Weimar Republic of the 1920s and early 1930s. He was forced to emigrate to London in 1933 when Hitler ro ...

's Revue ''Es liegt in der Luft'' (text by

Marcellus Schiffer Marcellus Schiffer was the name used by Otto Schiffer (20 June 1892 – 24 August 1932), a German cabaret writer, graphic designer, painter and librettist. Life Schiffer was born in Berlin. His father, Siegfried Schiffer (1849–1897), was a Je ...

), which premiered in 1928. From early on, she used to sign her works as ''DODO'' or ''DoDo''. Dodo reached the peak of her artistic career between 1927 and 1930 with caustic genre scenes of

Weimar Republic The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...

's glamorous high society. More than 60 of her intensely colourful

gouache Gouache (; ), body color, or opaque watercolor is a water-medium paint consisting of natural pigment, water, a binding agent (usually gum arabic or dextrin), and sometimes additional inert material. Gouache is designed to be opaque. Gouach ...

s, narrating the sophisticated life of the modern urbanite and the increasing estrangement of the sexes, were published in the German satirical magazine ''ULK''. In 1929, Dodo married the Jewish lawyer and notary Hans Bürgner (1882–1974); the couple had two children, Anja and Thomas Ulrich. 1933 she met

Carl Gustav Jung Carl Gustav Jung ( ; ; 26 July 1875 – 6 June 1961) was a Swiss psychiatrist, psychotherapist, and psychologist who founded the school of analytical psychology. A prolific author of over 20 books, illustrator, and correspondent, Jung was a ...

-disciple Gerhard Adler (1904–1988) with whom she fell in love. She followed him to

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

, where she was analyzed by

Toni Wolff Toni Anna Wolff (18 September 1888 – 21 March 1953) was a Swiss Jungian analyst and a close collaborator of Carl Jung. During her analytic career Wolff published relatively little under her own name, but she helped Jung identify, define, and ...

(1888–1953), Jung's close companion, at the ''Psychiatrische Universitätsklinik Zürich'', also known as ''Burghölzli Klinik''. Dodo expressed her dreams in her works, a sequence of watercolours which she characterized as "unconscious paintings". From 1934, Dodo could only work for Jewish publications, such as the ''Jüdische Rundschau'', who frequently published her Bible illustrations, theatre scenes or drawings for children. In 1936, Dodo emigrated to London, where she married Gerhard Adler after having been divorced from Bürgner. Her divorce from Adler followed in 1938 and Dodo and Hans Bürgner remarried in 1945. In her exile, Dodo illustrated children's books, designed greeting cards for

Raphael Tuck & Sons Raphael Tuck & Sons was a business started by Raphael Tuck and his wife in Bishopsgate in the City of London in October 1866, selling pictures and greeting cards, and eventually selling postcards, which was their most successful line. Their busi ...

and worked for ''Paris House London''. Post war, she drew still lives, landscapes and nude studies. In addition, she completed a range of

tapestries Tapestry is a form of textile art which was traditionally woven by hand on a loom. Normally it is used to create images rather than patterns. Tapestry is relatively fragile, and difficult to make, so most historical pieces are intended to han ...

according to her own design. Dodo's work had almost faded into obscurity; its art historic significance was discovered in the autumn of 2009 by Renate Krümmer, art collector and art dealer. In co-operation with Dodo's estate and Krümmer, Adelheid Rasche from the National Museums of Berlin, curated the first monographic exhibition ''Dodo (1907-1998) - A Life in Pictures''.

Book illustrations

* Max Samter: ''Die Versuchung. Eine Erzählung''. Textzeichnungen von Dodo Bürgner. Vortrupp-Verlag, Berlin 1934. * Frieda Mehler: ''Feiertags-Märchen''. Zeichnungen von Dodo Bürgner. Levy, Berlin 1935. * Gertrude M. Salinger: ''Keep-Fit Singing Games''. Illustrated by Dodo Adler. Evans Brothers, London 1938. * Joan Haslip: ''Fairy Tales from the Balkans''. Pictures by Dodo Adler. Collins, London & Glasgow 1943. * Gladys Malvern: ''The Dancing Star''. Illustrated by Dodo Adler. Collins, London 1944. * Gertrude M. Salinger: ''Good Fun Singing Games''. Illustrated by Dodo Adler. Ed. J. Burrow & Co., London 1947.

Exhibitions

The first exhibition of Dodo's works took place 1 March 2012 to 28 May 2012 in the

Staatliche Museen zu Berlin The Staatliche Museen zu Berlin (Berlin State Museums) are a group of institutions in Berlin, Germany, comprising seventeen museums in five clusters; several research institutes; libraries; and supporting facilities. They are overseen by the ...

/ Kulturforum. Her works were shown 22 June 2012 to 9 September 2012 in London in the exhibition ''The Inspiration of Decadence. Dodo Rediscovered: Berlin to London 1907-1998'' at the Ben Uri Gallery, The London Jewish Museum of Art.

References

Literature

* Renate Krümmer (Ed.): ''Dodo: Life and Work 1907–1998'', Hatje Cantz, Ostfildern 2012. .

External links

* Official sit

Title page of ULK
No. 43, 1928 {{DEFAULTSORT:Dodo 1907 births 1998 deaths Painters from Berlin 20th-century German painters 20th-century German illustrators German women painters German women illustrators German costume designers German children's book illustrators German modern painters