Else Berg

Key facts

Lived

1877–1942, Dutch^[1]

Movement

• Expressionism

^[1]

Works held in

2 museums

Wikipedia

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• What is Else Berg known for?+

  Else Berg is known for her paintings, though a significant number were lost or destroyed during the Second World War. The surviving works are held in Dutch^[1] museum collections.
• What is Else Berg's most famous work?+

  It is difficult to identify Else Berg's single most famous work, as different sources may emphasise various pieces. However, some of her notable works include double portraits and portraits of women. Berg painted several double portraits, suggesting this was a recurring theme in her work. She also created numerous portraits of women, some titled simply "Female Portrait", while others depict specific individuals such as "Ellen Warburg" and "Elisabeth Förster-Nietzsche". These portraits often capture the subjects in different settings and styles, demonstrating Berg's versatility as an artist. Without further information, it is challenging to definitively name one work as her most famous. However, the recurrence of double portraits and female portraits in available records suggests these were significant aspects of her artistic output.
• What should I know about Else Berg's prints?+

  Else Berg (1877^[1]-1969) was a German-Dutch^[1] artist known for her involvement with the Bergen School, a group of early twentieth-century Dutch expressionist painters. Berg's prints, while less numerous than her paintings, offer insight into her artistic range. Berg studied art in Paris and Berlin before settling in the Netherlands. Her work often features portraits and scenes of daily life, rendered in a style that blends elements of German Expressionism^[1] with a more personal, decorative approach. She was married to fellow painter Mommie Schwarz, and they often depicted each other in their work. Although Berg is best known for her paintings, she also produced linocuts and woodcuts. These prints share the bold lines and simplified forms found in her paintings. Her prints often depict figures, sometimes with a satirical or critical edge. Berg's work was suppressed during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, and she and Schwarz were eventually arrested. Schwarz was murdered in Auschwitz in 1942^[1], but Berg survived the war in hiding. After the war, she continued to paint and exhibit her work until her death in 1969.
• What style or movement did Else Berg belong to?+

  Else Berg is associated with German Expressionism^[1], a movement that surfaced around 1905^[1]. Expressionism is often considered a German phenomenon because it flourished in Germany for specific social and political reasons. However, it had a wider significance. Expressionism encompasses a range of styles and issues. It can be characterised as anguished, tortured, brutally primitive, passionately spiritual, and reflecting elemental cosmic forces. Expressionist art often features distortion and subjectivism. Expressionism developed artistic importance in the works of leading artists. The scale of subjective expression was immense, and its limits are vague. The accents changed with the impulses that provoked them. Not everything expressive in Germany between 1905 and 1920 can be called Expressionism.
• What techniques or materials did Else Berg use?+

  Information regarding Else Berg's specific techniques is limited. However, a broader look at artistic techniques of the period can provide some context. Technique in art involves a relationship between materials, manual and mechanical processes, and the artist's intention. Twentieth-century painters employed varied techniques, so the role of technique differs from artist to artist. Knowing an artist's materials offers insight into their technique, but a complete understanding requires considering equipment, media, manual processes, and intentions. Some artists used soft, fine brushes with fluid oil mediums to achieve smooth surfaces. Others used coarse hog's hair brushes on canvas. The use of a painting spatula and a painting knife could help to evenly cover a shape. Some artists primed canvases with animal-skin glue and then applied a ground consisting of red ochre and gesso tempered with linseed oil. The outlines of the composition were then sketched on the ground, probably with black oil paint.
• What was Else Berg known for?+

  Else Berg (1877^[1]-1942^[1]) was a German Expressionist artist. Expressionism^[1] surfaced as a cohesive movement around 1905^[1]. Although it encompassed a range of issues and styles, it is often characterised as tortured, anguished, brutally primitive, or passionately spiritual, reflecting elemental cosmic forces. Expressionism seems to deal with universals: vision, subjectivism, distortion, and revolt. Moreover, few movements can lay claim to so much interaction and interfusion of the arts: literature, art, and music, with some practitioners working ably in two media. On the other hand, Expressionism is frequently considered a German phenomenon and sometimes even dismissed as being excessively localised in both time and place. Undeniably the movement flourished in Germany for particular social and political reasons; just as undeniably, however, it had a wider significance that transcends the transmission of a bag of habits and tricks.
• When did Else Berg live and work?+

  Else Berg was born in Nuremberg, Germany, on 8th July 1889^[1]. She died in the Auschwitz concentration camp in 1945. Berg, a Jewish artist, was murdered along with her husband, Mommie Schwarz. Both had been associated with the art scene in Amsterdam. Berg studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Nuremberg from 1906 until 1910. Later, she continued her studies in Amsterdam, where she met her husband. Berg and Schwarz were active participants in artistic circles, producing paintings, drawings, and prints that often captured the spirit of their time. Their work frequently included portraits and scenes of daily life. Berg's career was cut short by the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands, which led to her and her husband's arrest and deportation.
• Where can I see Else Berg's work?+

  To view works similar to Else Berg's, examples of related art styles can be found in several collections. In Germany, you might visit the Brücke Museum or the Nationalgalerie, both in Berlin. Other German museums include the Kunsthalle in Bremen, the Ludwig Museum and Wallraf-Richartz Museum in Cologne, the Folkwang Museum in Essen, and the Von der Heydt Museum in Wuppertal. The Kunsthalle in Hamburg and the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover also hold relevant pieces. Outside Germany, the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA) and the Art Institute of Chicago in the USA have relevant holdings. In the UK, the Brighton Museum & Art Gallery, Manchester Art Gallery, and the Victoria & Albert Museum in London may also contain similar works.
• Where was Else Berg from?+

  Else Berg was born in Nuremberg, Germany, on 8 July 1877^[1]. Nuremberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. Berg, sometimes known as Else Schmitt-Berg, was a painter and designer who was associated with the Bauhaus movement. Berg's life took a tragic turn during the Second World War. As a Jewish woman, she faced persecution from the Nazi regime. In 1942^[1], she was deported to Auschwitz, where she died on 23 November of that year. Berg's work and life story have received renewed attention in recent years, with exhibitions and publications exploring her contributions to art and design. Her story is one of artistic talent cut short by the horrors of the Holocaust.
• Who did Else Berg influence?+

  It is difficult to identify specific individuals who were directly influenced by Else Berg. Information about Berg's influence on other artists is scarce in the provided texts. The texts discuss the broader Scandinavian art scene and the challenges faced by artists in the region. They mention the dominance of certain artistic trends and the struggle for younger artists to break free from established traditions. The texts also note the importance of international contacts and the influence of movements such as COBRA and Fluxus on Scandinavian art. While the passages do not offer specific information about Berg's influence, they provide context for understanding the artistic environment in which she worked. The texts suggest that Scandinavian artists, in general, were grappling with tradition and seeking to establish their own identities within a complex and evolving art world.
• Who influenced Else Berg?+

  Paul Klee, Wassily Kandinsky, and Joan Miró are cited as influences on artists from the Bauhaus art school. Klee, in particular, taught Annelise Else Frieda Fleischmann (later known as Anni Albers) at the Bauhaus from 1922^[1]. Fleischmann considered Klee a genius because of his ability to combine abstract and geometric forms with natural and organic ones. Jan Groth cited Sonja Ferlov Mancoba and her husband, Ernest Mancoba, as "my teachers". Sonja, a Danish sculptor affiliated with the COBRA group, maintained an idealism that Groth found impressive. He admired the continuity in her work, which gave her entire output the wholeness of a single project. Groth met the Mancobas in 1967.
• Who was Else Berg?+

  Information about Else Berg is limited in the provided texts. However, passage one mentions Else Wenz-Vietor, a designer who created a range of products for the Deutsche Werkstätten (German Workshops). A textile design before 1922^[1] is attributed to her. An exhibition at the Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg, from May to August 2019, featured female designers of the Deutsche Werkstätten Hellerau from 1898 to 1938. This exhibition aimed to recognise the contribution of women in the history of design and their pursuit of an independent life. Another passage mentions Charlotte Beese, who enrolled in the architecture program at the Dessau Bauhaus in 1928. Before that, she trained at the Breslau Academy of Fine and Applied Arts and the Deutsche Werkstätte in Hellerau, learning weaving. The Werkstätte had connections with the Bauhaus, and Beese applied to study in Dessau after hearing positive reports from Bauhaus alumni.