Call for Papers
Marianne Werefkin and the Cosmopolitan Women Artists in her Circle / Grenzüberschreitungen: Marianne Werefkin und die kosmopolitischen Künstlerinnen in ihrem Umfeld

On the occasion of the special exhibition Marianne Werefkin: Vom Blauen Reiter zum Großen Bären (Marianne Werefkin: From the Blue Rider to the Great Bear), Städtische Galerie Bietigheim-Bissingen, April 12 – July 6, 2014 and Paula Modersohn-Becker Museum, Bremen, July 20 – October 6, 2014 in cooperation with the Humanities Research Center at Jacobs University, Bremen

Languages: English and German

The achievements of many modernist female artists have often been marginalized or largely neglected by curators and art historians. Russian-born Marianne Werefkin is one of the most prominent examples. Today Werefkin the painter is widely recognized as an active and influential participant in important artists’ associations. Most other female artists in her circle, however, remain less known. even though recently a number of publications have been devoted to the artistic achievements of modernist women artists.

The two-day conference will provide a forum for an interdisciplinary exchange addressing the relationships and interactions of the female artists, poets, writers, and patrons in the circle of Marianne Werefkin. Among them are Erma Bossi, Elisabeth Epstein, Natalia Gontcharova, Else Lasker-Schüler, Elena Luksch-Makovsky, Maria Marc, Gabriele Münter, and Carla Pohle. The presentations will focus on themes of cosmopolitan culture, transcultural dialogue, gender relations, and changes in geographical location and cultural environment. Our goal is to trace the artists’ individual relationships and associations with one another and to re-evaluate their role in the development of European modernism.

Papers might explore, but are not necessarily limited to the following topics:

- The advent of modernist female artists and their impact on artistic practices
- Women artists as patrons and collectors in the late 19th and early 20th century
- Modernist women artists transcending social, cultural, geographical, and
artistic borders, thus shaping avant-garde art practices
- Women artists in the avant-garde artists’ networks

We invite proposals for twenty-minute papers from doctoral students, postgraduate researchers, and established academics. Please send an abstract of no more than 500 words together with a one-page biographical summary to Prof. Dr. Isabel Wünsche (i.wunschejacobs-university.de ) and Tanja Malycheva (t.malychevamuseen-boettcherstrasse.de) by Friday, January 18, 2014.