MANNHEIM.- Hannah H鯿h (1889–1978) is considered the most important German female artist of classical modernism. As a “revolutionary of art”, she ranks among the most prominent figures linking the emancipatory art of the avant-gardes of the first half of the 20th century with the second. Her life and art were shaped by a revolutionary attitude permeated by the rebellious consciousness of Dada. With the continuation of her work after 1945, H鯿h became a decisive groundbreaker for a younger generation of artists who in the 1960s took up the utopian-revolutionary potential of 1918.

From April 22 until August 14, 2016, the Kunsthalle Mannheim presents an exhibition of Hannah H鯿h’s oeuvre after 1945. It is the first comprehensive retrospective of the work which she created after the Second World War. The museum thus continues its series dedicated to significant female artists of the 20th and 21st century – from Germaine Richier via R� Soupault to Magdalena Jetelov�, Nairy Baghramian, and Pipilotti Rist.

There is still a lot to be discovered in Hannah H鯿h’s work that spans more than 60 years, from 1916 to 1979, since the artist was appraised almost exclusively as the grande dame of Dadaism after the Second World War. This one-sided focus on her Dadaistic work of the 1920s has shaped our perception of H鯿h until today – obstructing the view to her prolific post-war oeuvre.

The exhibition “Hannah H鯿h. Revolutionary of Art” addresses both, Dada’s revolutionary conception of the world, which was a fundamental idea of Hannah H鯿h’s oeuvre, and the diversity of her work. In 1918, the artist introduced the collage into fine art as an independent, extremely effective medium. It remained her most important form of expression throughout her career. Her collage “Entartet” (Degenerated) with a shiny silver corsage and pointed cone-shaped breasts became legendary: As the incarnation of seduction and decay, it is merely an empty shell, headless, with flies swarming around it.

By focusing on the H鯿h’s oeuvre after 1945, the Kunsthalle Mannheim acknowledges the artist’s entire artistic work and highlights her key role in the context of modernism and the 20th century. The curators Dr. Inge Herold and Dr. Karoline Hille present more than 150 exhibits, structured in eight themed galleries. They also include works that have never been exhibited so far.

The woodcut “Der Prophet Matth鋟s” (The Prophet Matthew, 1917) is in the collection of the Kunsthalle Mannheim. Many exhibits come from the estate of Hannah H鯿h, and numerous others from private collections in Germany.

Further lenders are: Galerie Berinson, Berlin; Berliner Sparkasse; Berlinische Galerie, Berlin; Heimatmuseum Reinickendorf, Berlin; Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin; Galerie Nierendorf, Berlin; Galerie Remmert und Barth, D黶seldorf; Kunstmuseum Gelsenkirchen; Wilhelm-Hack-Museum, Ludwigshafen; Kunstmuseum M黮heim an der Ruhr; Institut f黵 Auslandsbeziehungen, Stuttgart.