Temporary Exhibitions

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In its Ludwig Meidner Archives, the Jewish Museum Frankfurt administers the extensive artistic legacy of Ludwig and Else Meidner. These two artists, like many Jewish artists of their generation, were denied the recognition they deserved during their lifetimes due to ostracism and emigration. The work of these two artists is shown here together for the first time in fifty years. This form of presentation allows us to show how the complex and volatile relationships that existed between them (as teacher and student, husband and wife, competitors and fellow artists) functioned as a source of creative inspiration for them both and how the two of them influenced each other. The exhibition will also be shown at the Ben Uri Gallery (The London Jewish Museum of Art) in London from 30 June to 1 September, 2002. At Ben Uri the Meidners' work was last exhibited together in 1949.

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Ludwig Meidner (1884-1966) has been rediscovered as an important representative of urban Expressionism. In 1912 he founded the artists' group, Die Pathetiker, along with Jakob Steinhardt and Richard Janthur. Ludwig Meidner's breakthrough as an artist came with the exhibition of Die Pathetiker in Herwarth Walden's gallery, Der Sturm. Fascinated by the pulsating life of the big city, he painted street scenes inspired by Cubism and Futurism as well as "ecstatic" apocalyptic visions, his renowned "Apocalyptic Landscapes". At the same time, he painted expressive portraits of the Berlin writers and artists in whose circles he moved as well as numerous self-portraits.

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When Else Meyer (1901-1987) first met her future husband, Ludwig Meidner, he was teaching at the Berlin Academy of Art where she was taking drawing lessons. She transferred to his class soon after their first meeting and became his protégée. The talented, enthusiastic student from a wealthy family (her father was a highly-respected physician in Berlin) had been encouraged in her ambition to become an artist by such artistic luminaries as Käthe Kollwitz and Max Slevogt. Very little of her early work - gloomy, dramatic scenes full of violence - has survived. Probably under Meidner's influence, she increasingly devoted herself to portraits, and though she had initially only done drawings, she soon began painting.

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Else Meyer was a very impulsive and extroverted young woman and an extremely strong-willed artist. Ludwig Meidner, for his part, lived in a Spartan garret studio and led the solitary life of a Bohemian artist-poet with a strong penchant for mysticism. Although their personalities as well as their artistic styles and preferred themes were fundamentally different, they shared a very similar attitude towards art. For both of them, art involved much more than merely formal aspects and skill - it was a means of expressing and exploring their most intimate thoughts and feelings. This fact is reflected in the numerous self-portraits that both artists painted in all phases of their artistic work.

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The Meidners wed in 1927, and the two artists' marriage was often tumultuous. Their son David was born in 1929. Else Meidner's paintings from this period clearly demonstrate how she was stepping out of her teacher-cum-husband's shadow. Her portraits and landscapes are influenced by New Objectivity and Magic Realism. The young artist's work gained recognition. In 1928, her portrait etching of the writer, Alfred Döblin, was awarded a prize by the artists' group, Die Schaffenden, and was reproduced in the art magazine Kunstblatt. The first major exhibition of the Juryfreie in Berlin included thirty of her works, which were all positively discussed by the critics.

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Whereas Else Meidner almost never took motifs from the Jewish tradition as her theme - after World War II, she once wrote that she was not a Jewish artist, but rather belonged to the "art of the world" - her husband dealt intensively with Jewish themes in his work after World War I. His many Biblical scenes and portraits of prophets and penitents are not the only evidence of the central importance of religion in his life. He also professed the Jewish faith that had become his spiritual home in numerous articles, essays and poems, some of which were published in Berlin newspapers.

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As early as 1932, Meidner expressed his fears concerning growing anti-Semitism in a letter to his fellow painter, John Uhl: "We live in a highly-nationalistic area, are practically the only Jewish family in the neighbourhood and known as such, and might get into very dangerous situations."
After the Nazis came to power, Ludwig and Else Meidner's artistic possibilities became increasingly limited. Exhibitions were now only possible in Jewish cultural institutions such as the Jüdischer Kulturbund (Jewish Culture Association). On the occasion of Ludwig Meidner's 50th birthday, the Jewish Museum in Berlin exhibited a selection of his works as well as - probably due to his urging - a few of his wife's. In 1937, one of Ludwig Meidner's paintings could once again be seen throughout Germany - the Nazi propaganda show "Degenerate Art" prominently displayed a self-portrait by the "Jew-painter".

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In order to escape the growing anti-Semitism in Berlin, Ludwig Meidner and his family moved to Cologne in 1935, where he had been offered a position as drawing teacher at the Jewish school Yavneh. Although Meidner was less than thrilled to be teaching children and he was to a certain extent ill-suited to the task, he managed to instil a love of art in a small group of his students. He stayed in touch, either personally or by letter, with some of these students for decades.
Artistically speaking, the move to Cologne marked the beginning of a period of increasing isolation. The Meidners had little contact with other artists and no opportunities to exhibit their work. After several other plans to emigrate had come to naught, the couple immigrated to England in August 1939, shortly before the war broke out.

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In England, the Meidners lived in abject poverty. After the war began, Ludwig Meidner was interned as an "enemy alien". Many other intellectuals were imprisoned in the camp, and Ludwig Meidner considered his situation bearable because at least his physical survival was ensured. Else Meidner, on the other hand, was forced to take on a position as a servant in order to make a living. After the war, the couple remained in England, but their financial situation initially improved very little; they were barely able to get by on their art. Although Ludwig Meidner tried to eke out a living with commissioned portraits and by giving drawing lessons, the family was dependent on the generosity of friends and well-wishers.

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Ludwig and Else Meidner grew further and further apart during this period, a fact which is also reflected in their art. They inhabited different artistic worlds: Ludwig devoted himself to religious themes and humorous drawings; Else preferred allegorical themes, in many of which a mask motif played a central role, and began painting female nudes. Despite a certain degree of success - as, for example, when the Ben Uri Gallery put on a double show of the Meidners' work in 1949 - Ludwig Meidner lacked any prospects for artistic success in London. Even after ten years of living in exile, he had not managed to become established within the English art scene. Practically the only ones to take any notice of his art were other German-Jewish immigrants. He was invited to visit Germany in 1952, and the warm reception by old friends there as well as the outlook for success as an artist led him to return there for good in 1953.

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Else Meidner could not understand her husband's decision and remained in London. The Meidners' son David had immigrated to Israel in 1951 and joined a kibbutz. When Ludwig Meidner became ill in 1963, Else Meidner decided to return to Germany after all. However, her stay in Darmstadt, where her husband had since moved, was but a short interlude. The two had grown too far apart; their daily routines were simply too different (he painted all night, she worked by day); too great was the toll constant strife and petty jealousies took on their life together. Finally, Else Meidner decided to return to England.

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Else Meidner, whose health was rapidly failing - in particular, she was afflicted by a progressive arthritic condition - lived in increasing isolation in London. Despite several exhibitions in England and Germany, her art garnered little attention. Her last pictures reflect her growing sense of loneliness. The circle of people she portrayed grew ever smaller until almost all that remained were self-portraits and portraits of her sister Hildegard, who was also living in London. In other genres as well - such as the many nudes she painted in this period - she only altered recurring motifs very slightly and even resorted to copying and varying her own compositions.

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After returning to Germany, Ludwig Meidner initially lived in Frankfurt, then moved to Marxheim am Taunus before finally settling in Darmstadt. He was able to make a decent living in Germany selling his work and accepting commissions for portraits. He sought contact with young people, and in 1958, a young student of his, seventeen at the time, moved into his studio with him. In contrast to his wife, who had trouble reconciling herself with ageing and who had become somewhat bitter over the years, Ludwig remained open to new contacts and friendships well into old age. He was highly acclaimed in the last years of his life - he was able to show his work in numerous exhibitions and received many awards - and the first extensive monograph on his oeuvre was published shortly before his death. Ludwig Meidner died in Darmstadt in 1966. Else Meidner stopped painting shortly thereafter, as much in resignation as for health reasons. She died in London in 1987.



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