Raoul Hausmann and Elfriede Stegemeyer reunited for the first time through a selection of 50 original prints retracing their artistic relationship in Ibiza in 1935
A prolific artist, Raoul Hausmann developed an intense practice of photography from the mid-1920s, first from the island of Sylt in the North Sea and then to the island of Ibiza where he took refuge between 1933 and 1936. Fleeing the Nazi regime, he became passionate about the traditional architecture of the island and developed a long-running narrative, Hyle II, a multilingual, poetic and semi-biographical novel.
If this personal adventure has been widely shown and documented in recent years, his collaboration with the artist Elfriede Stegemeyer (1908-1988) has remained so far more confidential.
In 1935, Raoul Hausmann, visiting Paris, met the German artist Elfriede Stegemeyer, known for his photographic work on the study of everyday objects in the 1930s. From this meeting was born a fruitful collaboration of several months on the island of Ibiza.
While Raoul Hausmann is interested in traditional architecture, Elfriede Stegemeyer takes a closer look at the form and surface language of buildings, reflecting his constructivist vision, which contrasts with Hausmann’s more documentary style.
IBIZA 1935 thus proposes to shed new light on this singular artistic relationship where the crossed glances and mutual influences emerge and testify to the spirit of openness of these two artists.
This exhibition brings together more than 50 original prints and also allows to discover several new works by these two artists, including a set of works by Elfriede Stegemeyer recently acquired by the museum with the support of the Heritage Fund - Ministry of Culture.
This exhibition is supported by the Julian Sander Gallery (Cologne).