Ella Bergmann-Michel
Ella Bergmann -Michel ( * 1895 in Paderborn, † 1971 in Vockenhausen near Frankfurt am Main ) was a German painter, photographer and documentary filmmaker. With its picture - collage she is considered a pioneer of classical modernism, which was particularly influenced by Dadaism, Surrealism and the Bauhaus.
Life
Ella was born as the daughter of a druggist Wilhelm Bergmann 1895 in Paderborn. In 1914 she began studying at the, of reformist approaches of Henry van de Velde embossed Grand Ducal Saxon Academy of Fine Arts in Weimar. She attended the drawing class by Walther Klemm and met Robert Michel, whom she married in 1919.
Ella lived and worked from 1920 together with her husband and two children, on the " melting Mills", Vockenhausen im Taunus, which developed into an important meeting place of artists such as Willi Baumeister, László Moholy -Nagy, Jan Tschichold and Kurt Schwitters, with the Michels shared a lifelong friendship and Joris Ivens later, Asja Lacis and Dziga Vertov.
New Frankfurt
In her photographic work, she examined the relationship between public and private space, the social conditions and the working and living conditions in Frankfurt am Main. Her style can be assigned to the new vision. She was involved in 1931 in the founding of the group " New Frankfurt " under the project New Frankfurt and also founded the " League for independent film," the avant-garde films by international filmmakers presented. . Through her friendship with the photographer Ilse Bing, she met the Dutch architect Mart Stam, with whom she was planning a film about one built by him and Ferdinand Kramer retirement home in Frankfurt. Between 1931-1933 turned Bergmann -Michel five documentaries that were shown, among others, along with documentary silent film by Joris Ivens, Flaherty, László Moholy -Nagy, Lower and Clair.
When working on their film " election 1932 " on the election propaganda of the Nazis in the Reichstag election campaign 1932/33, Ella Bergmann -Michel was arrested and was banned from working.
After 1945
After the war she devoted herself exclusively to the advancement of their work in painting and graphic arts. Their son, Hans Michel (1920-1996) was an important artist and graphic designer.
Work
- Where do old people. ( Germany 1931 ) on behalf of the architect Mart Stam
- Unemployed cook for the unemployed. ( Germany 1932)
- Hawkers in Frankfurt am Main. ( Germany 1932)
- Fishing in the Rhön. ( Germany 1932)
- Election campaign in 1932. ( Germany 1932/33 )
Discount
- Inventory. Archive Robert Michel, Ella Bergmann -Michel. Sprengel Museum, Hannover. 1991 ff
- Graphic Arts Collection, Museum Wiesbaden