Ida Gerhardi – “And Everything Danced”

She built a reputation as a portraitist and networker who also facilitated contacts and exhibition opportunities for fellow artists in Paris and elsewhere. She was acquainted with prominent art collectors such as Karl Ernst Osthaus, was a member of the Berlin Secession and the German Artists’ Association, and was a co-founder of the German Lyceum Club.

In 1913, Ida Gerhardi was forced to leave Paris due to illness and return to her hometown of Lüdenscheid. She was able to continue her artistic work only to a limited extent.

The exhibition at the Kollwitz Museum is dedicated to Ida Gerhardi’s time in Paris, focusing in particular on her expressive dance paintings and depictions of Parisian nightlife, as well as her striking self-portraits.

Gerhardi strolled through Paris alone and visited dance halls on her own—both of which were highly unusual for a woman at the time. Beginning in 1903, she began to explore these scenes artistically. In art history, she is thus considered a pioneer, as no woman before her had painted these subjects.

During her forays through the bars and dive bars in 1904, Käthe Kollwitz accompanied her—along with the art dealer Wilhelm Uhde (1874–1947)—during her two-month stay in Paris. During this time, a deep affection developed between the two artists, which grew into a friendship maintained across geographical distances.

The two women also found common ground artistically in the motif of self-portraits. For this reason, the Kollwitz Museum in Berlin feels compelled to honor this fellow artist of Käthe Kollwitz in an exhibition.

As early as six years ago, while the museum was still at its old location, there were attempts to organize an exhibition titled “Ida Gerhardi – Und alles tanzte.” Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic thwarted two attempts to present this exhibition at the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin. It was only after the move to the Theaterbau and the completion of all construction work that this long-planned exhibition could finally be realized.

This is the artist’s first exhibition in Berlin in 25 years. Back then, the now-defunct Verborgene Museum had dedicated itself to this forgotten body of work. On display are approximately 40 paintings and drawings by Ida Gerhardi, primarily from her time in Paris around 1905.

• Slow Art Guided Tour: September 3, 5:00 p.m., with museum director Dr. Josephine Gabler

• Reading: October 8, 6:00 p.m., featuring Heike Steinweg, photographer and actress, and Dr. Annegret Rittmann, editor of the collection of letters