Else Meidner. Melancholia

Portraits and self-portraits constitute a large part of painter and illustrator Else Meidner’s oeuvre. In many of these works, the artist uses gestures to subtly heighten the intensity of expression. In particular, the gesture of melancholy — with subjects resting their heads in their hands — carries throughout her entire body of work. The portraits oscillate between meditative contemplation, resignation, and grief.

Else Meidner, née Meyer, was encouraged by Käthe Kollwitz and Max Slevogt to pursue an artistic career. For a long time, she remained in the shadow of her famous husband, the Expressionist Ludwig Meidner.