DD - Ben Uri Gallery & Museum · DD The Inspiration of Decadence Berlin – London (1907-1998) Dodo...

DODOThe Inspirati

on of Decadence

Dodo Rediscovered:

Berlin – London (1907-1998

)

Learning PackBen Uri, The London Jewish Museum of Art

Contents

Theatre, Costume and Fancy Dress, Fashion,Political Satire

Graphic Design & Illustration

Personal BiographyJungian Psychoanalysis & Introspection

The Bible & JudaismReligious Scenes

Children’s Illustration

Weimar, Decadence, Cafe Culture,Expressionism and Modernism

BerlinThe City

Josephine Baker and the depiction of dark skinned modelsThe ‘Exotic’

Nazi Germany & WWII

Refugees in London & the new cafe culture

Timeline3

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10

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18

TimelineDÖrte (Dodo) Clara Wolff is born in Berlin into a wealthy Jewish family

Receives professional education as a fashion illustrator and designer at the Reimann School in Berlin

Works as a freelance fashion illustrator

Gives birth to daughter Anja

Gives birth to son Thomas

Has a love affair with the psychoanalyst Gerhard Adler during the autumn of this year.

Returns to Berlin, ménage a trois with Bürgner and Adler

divorces Hans Bürgner

Divorces Gerhard Adler

Remarries Hans Bürgner

1907

Marries Dr Hans Bürgner, a solicitor and notary, 25 years her senior

Has over 60 illustrations published in Berlin’s influential satirical magazine, ULK

1950s Takes Drawing and Life Drawing classes in Hampstead

Designs and makes embroidery pictures

Illustrates for Jewish newspapers

1970s

1923

1924

1925

1926

1927

1928

1929

1930

1932

1933

1934

1935

1936

1937

1938

1940

1941

1942

1943

1944

1998 Dodo dies on December 22nd at the age of 91.

Designs for clients such as John Lewis, the department store

Produces designs for Ackermans chocolates, founded by fellow émigrés

Illustrates children’sbooks and greetings cards

Emigrates to London

Undergoes psychoanalysis with C G Jung and his

assistant and lover Toni Wolff in Zurich.

Dodo (1907 - 1998) Timeline

Marries Gerhard Adler

Dodo is torn between Adler and her young family.

Decadence, Café Culture, Expressionism and Modernism

BerlinThe City

The Art Museum for EveryoneThe London Jewish Museum of Art, Bridging Communiti es since 1915

Created by Alix Smith, Gabby EdlinAndrea Grotti ck & Lisa Shames

Weimar was a name given to the form of democratic government that was established in Germany in 1919. It was named after the building in which the political rule was established. Along with the political changes, during this time period in Berlin, (from around 1919 till 1933 when Adolf Hitler came to power) there were also significant developments in literature, film, architecture and design, music, art, fashion and psychology. This time period is now known as the Weimar period. Dodo was an artist working during this time. The culture of the Weimar period was seen as decadent and a dangerous threat to respectable society, due to the way that its exponents challenged and subverted societal ‘norms’ and demonstrated ‘radical’ behaviours.

Dodo, ‘Untitled (Street Scene)’, watercolour, 1928-9. Private Collection, Hamburg.

The capital city of Berlin is located in the centre of Germany; it was also at the centre of the new decadent society and lifestyle of Dodo and her contemporaries in the 1920s. After Germany’s defeat in WWI and the resulting financial ruin of the government, the immediate post-war years saw the country in a dark depression.

However, with loans from the US, economic security was re-established in the mid-20s and the nation’s spirits were lifted. Berlin expanded into its neighbouring suburbs and fast became a cultural hub of activity. Increased population in the capital bought with it a diverse range of skills and industries, and saw advancements in many areas, such as science, politics, and media. This encouraged many creative individuals and avant-garde thinkers into the city.

Café Culture

The ‘café society’ of Berlin gathered in the fashionable cafés, restaurants, and cabaret venues of the city; they were mostly artists, writers and performers who worked unusual hours and therefore free during the day to sit, chat, and muse upon the world going by. The urban streets and sidewalks became a bohemian meeting place for alfresco dining and scintillating conversation; new ideas and movements were embraced and cultivated within this café culture.

Ben Tobias, Café Zeus, oil, undated. Ben Uri Collection



Berlin became a decadent society

of luxury and leisure for the thriving

population of the cultural elite.

Key figures of this time included:

Psychology – Carl Jung

Physics – Albert Einstein

Literature – Alfred Döblin (‘Berlin

Alexanderplatz’, 1929)

Film – Fritz Lang (‘Metropolis’, 1927)

Architecture – Bauhaus

Painting – George Grosz

Expressionism and Modernism

Expressionism flourished in the changing cultural society of Berlin with its focus on experimen-tation and individuality; it encompasses all art forms including music, dance, theatre, writing, painting, and other creative industries. Expressionists concentrated on emotional reactions rather than realistic representations of objects or ideas. In other words expressionists tried to paint their emotions and feelings about life, rather than life itself. The mind of the artist, rather than what the artist is seeing. It was a highly personal form of self- expression.

Expressionism was dominant in Germany at the beginning of the 20th century and is sometimes known as German Expressionism, though other artists throughout Europe were also making Expressionist art. Expressionist art is typified by paintings which use distorted or irregular forms, which may be exaggerated or ‘primitive’ and these forms are often combined with the use of bright colours. Their stylised interpretations used vibrant palettes and rich literary language, relying on symbols and mental imagery to stimulate meaning in the work.

Much like expressionism, Modernism intentionally broke from traditional art forms and challenged their restrictive boundaries.

Modernism was a movement in art and litera-ture which developed at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. This was a period of intense social change with the rise of industry and technology, the development of the city and increased urbanisation, as well as the imminence and impact of WWI. Modernist artists and writers felt that they wanted to break free from traditional methods and forms of expression to create a new and modern way of communicating. They were influenced by industrialisation and commercial mass-production and incorporated new types of materials and creative processes. Modernists used bold statements and shock-tactics to present feel-ings and theories which were often controversial.

Beginning in the early 1900s, expressionism gained strength throughout Europe in the 20s within Berlin at the forefront of the movement, producing artists such as:

Otto Dix

George Grosz

Ernst Ludwig Kircher

Max Pechstein

George Grosz, Interrogation, watercolour & ink, 1938, Ben Uri Collection

Modernism was closely linked to expressionism in Berlin and continued throughout the 1930s and 40s; most notable modernists were:

Paul Cézanne

Henri Matisse

Gustav Klimt

Wassily Kandinsky

Theatre, Costume and Fancy Dress, Fashion & Political Satire

Graphic Design & Illustration

Graphic design can encompass a wide range of ideas and techniques, but is nearly always linked to Commercial Arts. Commercial Arts is the production of a piece of work, involving both text and artwork to advertise, sell or promote a product or idea. Graphic design has traditionally referred to work which will be used commercially, and not seen as Fine Art (art for the sake of art) but the boundaries are now so blurred that it is near impossible to separate the two. Much of Dodo’s work falls into the category of Graphic Design, because of her involvement of text, and the fact that it was intended for commercial use. However, it now sits in an Art Gallery, which raises the question:

Are designers today seen as artists?

Dodo’s Student Graphic Design

Dodo’s time at art school must have been a very exciting time for her and her fellow students. A pupil at the prestigious art college, Reimann Schule (School), she was able to experience the fast-paced, decadent world of 1920s Berlin. The Bauhaus movement was well under way, and Germany was blazing the trail in terms of art, design and science.

What is Bauhaus?

“Bauhaus” comes from the German “bauen”, to build. Bauhaus was an Arts school which was founded in 1919 in the German city of Weimar. It went through many changes of directorship and location between 1919 and its closure in 1933, but always stayed true to the ideal of clean, architectural design for the modern age. The influence of Bauhaus is easily detectable in much of Dodo’s early work, in particular her advertisement for the Federn pen nib.

Dodo, Federn, 1927

A popular project among the Reimann students was advertisement design, and Dodo was no exception. The designs, including the Federn advert, Hanna Haars Hats and Rosine Paris clearly reflect the styles of the era. Federn features a clean, linear design, the nib designed to look metallic and 3D. It resembles a rocket, or even a bullet, and clearly encapsulates the modernist, Bauhaus movement of Berlin in the 1920s. Modernist design and architecture is evident in many of Dodo’s own designs. The poster for Hanna Haars Hats (Hute Hanna Haars) was made around a year earlier, and it too features the lines and geometric shapes. Here, we can see the beginning of her work using flat pattern , which would be seen later in her designs for Vogue.

Dodo, Hanna Haars Hats, c.1926



In her advertisement poster for Rosine Paris, we can already see Dodo’s interest in ‘the exotic’ beginning to emerge. The clean line of the perfume bottles reflect the popular Modernist architecture, but the patterning is Oriental. The Reimann Schule was well known for its liberal atmosphere and thriving student newspaper, and Dodo immersed herself in the arts and culture of the time. She produced posters and advertisements for the popular movies among the students and designed flamboyant costumes for the school’s annual fancy dress ball.

Compare a fashion advertisement now to Dodo’s 1920s designs.

• What has changed?

Dodo encapsulated the twenties woman in her designs...

how are 2012 women represented in magazines?

• Do you agree with how they are depicted?• Are they realistic?• Should they be more realistic?

Fashion

Following her graduation in 1926, Dodo enjoyed a great deal of commercial success as a freelance fashion illustrator, designing for, among others, Vogue Patterns. The fashion models she drew epitomised the feminine ideal of the twenties with stylishly short haircuts and slender, angular figures. These pages were often included in the company’s monthly publication, and featured a swatch of fabric incorporated into the interior of the setting, and a fashion model, wearing an outfit of the same material. Rather than just fashion drawings, Dodo illustrated an idealised lifestyle, including fashionable furniture and interior design. The chic, haughty women would feature heavily in Dodo’s future work for satirist magazine, ULK.

Pick a time in history which interests you, and draw a fancy dress costume to represent it.

Dodo, Rosine Paris, c.1925The costume designs reveal Dodo’s wry sense of humour, as she plays with stereotypical characters from history and literature: the dandy, the cowboy and the huntswoman. The Modernist-inspired garments are draped over the glamorous, slender mannequins for which Dodo would become so well known.

Dodo, Untitled (Design for a fantasy costume) c.1926



Dodo, Two Daytime Ensembles, Vogue patterns for the Michels’ silk

weaving company, 1926/7

Josephine Baker and the depiction of dark skinned models

The ‘Exotic’

Freda Josephine McDonald was born in St Louis, Missouri on 3rd June 1906. Everything about her and her life was exotic and unconventional. She was dancing on Broadway by the age of thirteen, by fifteen was married to Willie Baker and thereafter went by the name of Josephine Baker, although she married a further three times. She moved to Paris in 1925 and her act – a unique mix of comedy, jazz and exotic dancing – became a huge success all over Europe. The ‘banana dance’ was her most iconic performance (as pictured) and was typical of Baker’s avant-garde style and erotic expression through movement. Baker’s performances were a skilful representation of the ‘savage’, ‘sexual animalism’ stereotypically associated with African women at that time – she used rhythm, nudity and spontaneity to both shock and delight her audience.

The 1950’s saw Baker return to the stage, however her act was not as successful in the USA where she faced racism and rumours of communism. She refused to perform in clubs that practiced racial segregation and fought vocally for racial equality. She supported the American Civil Rights Movement and worked for the NAACP .

In the 1960’s Baker was faced with eviction and spiralling debts and moved once more to France. A return to the stage in the 1970’s proved a successful comeback for the performer but was short lived; she died of a stroke on the 12th April 1975.

During WWII, Baker worked for both the Red Cross and the French Resistance whilst also entertaining the troops in Africa and the Middle East. After the war she returned to the USA where she settled to raise 12 adopted children of varying races and cultures from all over the world.

Josephine Baker



Some questions to consider

• Why do you think her visibility and representation was important to Dodo?

• Do you think she was really accepted into contemporary European society?

• Do you think she would have been as successful if she had not been viewed as ‘exotic’?

• Why do you think the USA was not as appreciative of her performances?

The two illustrations in the Dodo exhibition contrast the two sides of Baker’s persona. There is the playful, primitive image of the performer in ‘banana’ costume; and the depiction of the modern, decadent, high-society lady in fur coat and pearls.

These works perfectly show us the difference between Baker the woman (as accepted into contemporary society) and Baker the ‘negro’ performer (a caricature of the African woman and spectacle of the stage).

Dodo, Black Revue (Josephine Baker), c.1926

Dodo, Untitled (Josephine Baker), 1937



Personal Biography

Jungian Psychoanalysis & Introspection

Psychoanalysis

Whereas Freud believed sex and parental relationships to be the root cause of all psychological illnesses, Jung focused on deeper levels of meaning: unconscious symbolic references shared by a common mythology and spiritual enlightenment. He believed that through long periods of psychoanalysis it is possible to integrate the unconscious areas of the hu-man psyche with the conscious, thus creating psychological wholeness and wellbeing.

In psychoanalysis the patient talks extensively about their daily lives, dreams, thoughts, imagination, and fantasies. Key themes and recurring symbols are recognised, analysed, and used to understand unconscious motivations and help the patient to achieve their full potential in life. This is a lengthy process that could take a lifetime to accomplish.

WHO WAS CARL JUNG?

Carl Gustav Jung was born in Switzerland on the 26th July 1875 and died in Zurich on the 6th June 1961.

A profoundly spiritual and enlightening experience as a young boy led to an intellectual awakening that would form the basis of Jung’s life study into the human psyche and what he later termed the Collective Unconscious.

Jung studied philosophy, theology and medicine before carrying out extensive research into psychic phenomena and psychology. He worked alongside leading psychiatrists and performed clinical trials in mental institutions. He studied patients with a range of mental illnesses, including Schizophrenia and Psychosis.

During the early 1900s Sigmund Freud acted as Jung’s mentor, discussing his theories and encouraging his study of the human mind; until Jung developed his own theories that challenged Freud’s and divided him from his contemporaries.

THE NEW

The search for inner balance was not a new concept, but Jung’s methods and theories were certainly new and exciting for this time (1920s-40s).

Do you know what was new and different about this form or therapy?Some of the main differences:

Perhaps the biggest difference was that this new form of therapy was recommended, and beneficial, to everyone and embraced all cultures and religions as a Collective Unconscious desire for unity.

THE OLD (Freud, et al)

Believed that the unconscious contained only repressed memories

Looked at possible external causes for distress, e.g. Childhood abuse or neglect; traumatic experiences

Studied the patient (in sometimes clinical environments) and didn’t include him/her in the analytical process

Saw the patient once a week for a set period of time, perhaps 6-12 weeks

Tendency to focus on past events in a negative way. No emphasis on change or hope for a better future.

THE NEW (Jungian Psychoanalysis)

Believed in a Collective Unconscious

Looked at the inner world to make sense of the outer world

Worked with the patient to interpret signs and symbols together

Spent a long time with patients: sessions sometimes two or three times a week for many years

Focused on present responses and experiences, taking action and tackling problems.

Positive at looking towards the future



Dodo, Dream, 1933

Myths and fairy-tales from all over the world have common recognisable meanings, and there are many symbolic references that are easily recognisable to all. Jung also believed that within the Collective Unconscious there resided dominant archetypes. Some of these include:

THE MOTHER: maternal; nurturingsymbols = earth-mother; Eve; forest; ocean; church; nation.

ANIMA/ANIMUS: female/male; intuition/logic; deep emotions/argumentssymbols = young girl/wise old man; witch/sorcerer

THE SHADOW: survival; reproduction; sexual desiresymbols = darkness; snake; dragon; monsters; demons

There are many more archetypes, each with their own symbols which may feature in dreams or artistic interpretations.

NB: The symbol for the Collective Unconscious = pool of water.

COLLECTIVE UNCONSCIOUS

Jung’s theories were based upon the under-standing of a Collective Unconscious – psy-chically inherited information that everyone has without necessarily having experienced and collected the data themselves.

Just as a strand of DNA contains all the genetic information required to give us our auntie’s curly hair, or our great-grandfather’s talent for drawing, so too can we inherit knowledge and understanding of basic needs and wants before we even realise that we need or want something!

For example, a baby knows (unconsciously) that it needs nurturing and wants love, before ever having received it. So, even if a baby never receives love, it will still under-stand from the Collective Unconscious that love is required.

The Collective Unconscious, therefore, could

be described as shared knowledge with all

mankind that influences our decision-making

and behaviour without us realising.

‘The Consummation’ (1937), shows a winged woman gliding through a night sky, her hair swirling up to the heavens. What do you think Consummation represents?

Much of the symbolism found in Dodo’s art would have deep significance and probably discussed in detail during her psychoanalysis; we may never know their true meanings.

• Do you think the meanings of these images and symbols are the same for everyone?• Do you believe in a ‘Collective Unconscious’?• What does the depiction of the skull mean to you?• What do you think the different animals/creatures mean? eg. the fish, spider, horse, monkey..• Dodo shows water in various forms in her works of this period. Do you think this is significant and why?

DODO & JUNGIAN PSYCHOANALYSISJung supported creative expression as a way of translating messages from the unconscious. Such messages are clearly illustrated in Dodo’s work after a period of analysis with Jung in the autumn of 1933. The early 1930s had been a tumultuous time for Dodo; upsets in her personal life included an affair with Gerhard Adler (himself a psychotherapist), an abortion, and separation from her children. These events were recorded through a period of intense introspection where she channelled feelings of guilt and anxiety into her art.

‘Dream’ is an exact representation and shows an awareness of dream-interpretation, probably as a result of her therapy with Jung and knowledge of psychoanalysis. However, not all of her work during this period is as clearly interpreted – some of the images are far more symbolic and surreal.

What symbols can you find in Dodo’s work and what could they mean?

Dodo, The Consummation, 1937



Nazi Germany & WWII

When did WWII begin and what factors lead to the war?

World War II officially began on 1st September 1939 when Nazi Germany invaded Poland. There were many different and complicated reasons as to why the war began. World War I had ended in November 1918. Germany was on the ‘losing’ side and faced many losses of life. The Treaty of Versailles, the peace treaty which officially marked the end of the war, was very harsh towards Germany. The Treaty forced Germany to disband the army, return all lands gained during the war, pay heavy fines, known as retributions, to all the ‘winning’ countries, as well as take full responsibility for beginning the war.

In 1933 Adolf Hitler and the Nazi party came to power in Germany with the aim to ‘rebuild’ the Germany that was destroyed by the First World War. However, central to the Nazi party beliefs was a strong racism and hatred of anyone they saw as ‘non-German’, such as Jews, Gypsies, Communists, and Homosexuals. Hitler and the Nazi’s wanted to spread their anti-semitism (extreme racism towards Jewish people) and racial values to other parts of Europe, which eventually led to the Nazi invasion and annex-ing, or taking over, of Poland on 1st September 1939. This led directly to Britain declaring war on Germany and the official beginning of the Second World War.

What was the Nazi Party and what were their main ideas?

How did these ideas affect Jews living in Berlin?

Post-war Germany was very poor. There were no jobs, the economy was in crisis, and there was much political un-rest. Many Germans were looking for someone to blame for their having lost the war and for the hardships that followed. Germany also wanted a strong leader to help solve all the political unrest. These factors led, in 1933, to the rise in power of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party.

The Nazi’s were a political party with strong racist values. They believed that the ‘pure German’ or Aryan race was superior to all other races. An Aryan was anyone who was of ‘pure’ European descent, who was not Jewish.

The Nazi’s also believed that Germany was the most im-portant country and was destined to rule over all others. Hitler and the Nazi’s had strong support from the German people because of their promise to end unemployment, rebuild the German army, and end all of the political and economic unrest.

Central to the Nazi party ideals was ‘anti-semitism’, which means racism directed specifically against Jews. Hitler saw the Jews as a threat to ‘pure’ German society.

The Nazi’s promoted these ideas through the use of propaganda such as political rallies, campaigns, and leaflets, and even controlling the cultural and education systems within the country. They gradually developed many anti-semitic laws and sought to control all of the Jews living in Germany.

Jews were forbidden to attend schools and universities. They were forbidden from having certain jobs, from going to certain shops and from entering certain areas of the city. They were also forced to wear special distinguishing clothing which marked them out from the rest of the population.

George Grosz, Interrogation, 1938



In 1935, two laws were passed which prohibited Jews from marrying ‘pure-blood’ Germans and also took away Jewish citizenship and legal rights. These laws were known as The Nuremberg Laws. The anti-semitism in Germany heightened even further when on the night of 8th April 1938 Jewish homes, shops, and synagogues across Germany and German occupied Austria were broken into, looted, and burned to the ground. The night became known as ‘Kristallnacht,’ or The Night of Broken Glass.

In September of 1939, Jews were formally relocated to separate parts of the city, known as ghettos.

The ghettos were enclosed areas of town, often with fences or barbed wire, in which the Jews were forced to live in isolation under horrible living conditions with minimal food, unclean water, and unsanitary living quarters. Many people died living in the ghettos.

There were at least 1000 ghettos in occupied Poland and the Soviet Union alone.

The city of Berlin faced serious upheaval with the rise of Hitler and the Nazi party. Strong anti-semitism was prevalent throughout the war and the ghettos remained as the centres of Jewish life in Berlin under the Third Reich, though, in later years, most Jews were eventually deported.

Jews in Berlin had their entire lives turned upside down with the rise of the Nazi party and the anti-semitic laws that were enforced in German society. Many Jews, including Dodo, had to leave behind their friends, families, careers, and possessions, and were forced out of their homeland to begin a new life in a strange new country.

What did these changes mean for Jews living in the city, such as Dodo?

Dodo, Jews Looking Around, 1933

Dodo, Within us are all who feel alone, c.1933



The Bible & JudaismReligious Scenes

Dodo’s ‘Expulsion from Paradise’ shows the part of the story from Genesis when God expelled Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden because they disobeyed Him and ate the fruit from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. The Biblical story is as follows, after creating Adam and Eve, God instructed them that they could eat from any tree in the garden except the Tree of Knowledge. However, the serpent persuaded Eve into taking a bite of the fruit from the tree and Eve then gave the fruit to Adam. Upon eating the fruit they had a new awareness of themselves. They realised that they were naked and they covered themselves. Later, when God was looking for them, they hid from Him. When God found out what they had done he banished them from Eden and placed an Angel with a flaming sword to guard the gates at the entrance.

In the story, Joseph is sold in Egypt to a man named Potiphar and becomes his head servant. One day, while Potiphar is out, his wife tries to seduce Joseph who refuses her. She is angry and tells her husband that Joseph tried to seduce her, so Potiphar throws Joseph into jail. While in jail, Joseph meets a baker and a butler who work in the Pharaoh’s house. Both the baker and the butler have had disturbing dreams and Joseph, who is skilled in the art of dream interpretation, offers to help them make sense of their dreams. He predicts that in three days Pharaoh will kill the baker and forgive the butler. This comes true and Joseph asks the Butler to remember him to Pharaoh in hopes of being released from prison. Two years later the Pharaoh has some disturbing dreams as well and the butler tells him of a man in prison who is a master of interpreting dreams. Thus, Joseph is taken before Pharaoh and hears his dreams of seven fat cows and seven skinny cows drinking from the Nile. Joseph predicts seven years of plenty and seven years of famine. The Pharaoh then appoints Joseph second in command and asks him to lead them through the years of plenty to prepare for the famine ahead. Because of Joseph’s skill in interpreting the Pharaoh’s dream, Egypt is ready when the famine hits having stored away food from the previous years.

Three of Dodo’s works in the exhibition portray scenes from the story of Joseph and his Brothers. The story of Joseph and his Brothers comes from the book of Genesis in the Old Testament. The story is as follows, Jacob, son of Isaac, lived in the land of Canaan with his twelve sons, one of whom, Joseph, was his favourite son because he reminded him of his favourite wife, Rachel. Because Jacob favoured Joseph best, he bestowed upon him many gifts, one of which was a very fine and colourful tunic, or coat. Joseph’s coat made his brothers very jealous and they envied his special relationship with their father. Dodo’s ‘Joseph Wearing the Coat in front of his Brothers’ portrays this scene of the story.

The Biblical scenes represented in these works of Dodo’s include ‘The Expulsion from Paradise’ (1930), ‘Moses and the Burning Bush’ (1930), and three scenes from the story of Joseph and his Brothers, ‘Joseph Wearing the Coat in front of his Brothers,’ ‘Joseph’s Dream,’ and ‘Joseph’s Brothers showing Jacob the blood-stained Coat.’ Each of these images portrays an important story of Jewish history from the Old Testament.

What are the scenes are depicted in these works?

Dodo, Expulsion from Paradise, c.1930

from Joseph and his Brothers



Joseph’s dreams also cause jealousy amongst Joseph’s brothers. Joseph has a series of dreams that symbolise him rising above his brothers to rule the family. In one of these dreams Joseph sees the sun, the moon, and eleven stars bowing down before him, and it is this dream that Dodo has depicted in the piece ‘Joseph’s Dream.’ Finally Joseph’s brothers become so resentful of their fathers favouritism towards Joseph, the gift of his beautiful coloured tunic, and the dreams of him rising above them all, that the brothers throw Joseph into a pit and sell him to some Ishmaelites, who take him down to Egypt. The brothers then cover Joseph’s tunic with goat’s blood and bring it to show their father who assumes that his favourite son has been killed by a wild animal. The father mourns his loss. The third scene depicted by Dodo, ‘Joseph’s Brothers showing Jacob the blood-stained Coat’ tells this part of the story.

The famine strikes Egypt and the surrounding countries, including Canaan, which brings Joseph’s brothers down to Egypt to buy some food from the Pharaoh. When faced with his brothers, Joseph at first hides his identity from them. They do not recognize him after so many years and Joseph creates a series of tests to see if his broth-ers have changed into sincere and honest men. The last test comes when Joseph secretly orders his goblet to be placed in the sack of his youngest brother, Benjamin, and then accuses the brothers of robbery saying that in whoever’s sack the goblet is found, that brother must remain behind as a slave while the rest go free. The goblet is found in Benjamin’s sack and each of the brothers drops to his knees asking forgiveness and pleading to take Benjamin’s place as slave. Joseph then realizes that his brothers have truly changed and he reveals his identity to them, reuniting the family. The brothers send word to Jacob and his household in Canaan who then join them in Egypt and the family is complete at last.

• How does Dodo depict each of these Biblical scenes?

• What elements of each scene does Dodo include to tell these stories? • Have you heard these stories being told before? Where have you heard of them?

• Do you know any other stories from Holy Books?

• If you were going to choose a story to illustrate which story would you choose and why?

What significance or relevance do these scenes have in Dodo’s life? Why did Dodo begin to make these works?

Dodo began making these particular works in the early 1930s, during the time that Hitler and the Nazi’s were rising to power with their anti-Semitic and racist ideals. Many of the circumstances Jews were experiencing at that time mirrored those of the Jewish experiences depicted in these Old Testament Biblical scenes.

Like Adam and Eve in Dodo’s ‘Expulsion from Paradise,’ the Jews in Berlin were being made to feel as if they no longer belonged in their homeland, and many Jews, including Dodo, eventually left Berlin to start a new life somewhere else, somewhere outside the ‘Paradise’ of the homeland they had always known. Dodo had been exiled from a personal Eden—those luxurious and decadent pre-war Berlin years that existed before Hitler and the Nazi party began to gain power.

The Joseph story tells the tale of a boy who grew up to be the leader of the Jewish people exiled in Egypt. The Joseph story also explores the idea of family, both a personal, immediate family as well as a larger, collective Jewish family. This story, is the story of the beginning of Jewish family history in the Old Testament. During the time of political and social turmoil through which Dodo lived in the early 1930s in Berlin, where families were being separated and loved ones were being lost, stories of the family and love, separation and reunification would have been very important. The story of Joseph and his ability to ‘read’ dreams could have also had later significance to Dodo, as she underwent her Jungian psychoanalytic treatment a few years after the creation of these works. Jung believed in the power of dreams as a way of learning about the inner consciousness.

In the story of Moses and the Burning Bush, the bush is enflamed but not consumed by the fire which burns its branches. In this scene, Moses decides to help rescue the Jewish people from their oppressors in Egypt. The bush can be seen as symbolic, representing the idea that, like the bush, the Jews will not be destroyed. One major theme that runs through each of these works and the stories represented by Dodo is this idea that throughout history, whilst generations of Jewish people have encountered many serious problems and hostilities, through it all they have remained one people, one family, with one history, and, like the burning bush, they will remain and thrive. These ideas were important for Jews to keep in mind during the growing hardships they began to face while under the rising power of Hitler and the Third Reich.

The themes and ideas of exile, family, guilt, shame, and the importance of dreams that are found in these Biblical stories could also have been present in Dodo’s mind when she undertook her Jungian psychoanalytic therapy a few years later.

• Can you see the influence of these biblical stories in any other of Dodo’s works?

• What other artists have used Bible stories in their artworks?

• Why do biblical themes or stories continue to be explored in contemporary art?



Dodo, Two Biblical Scenes: Moses at the Burning Bush, Expulsion from Paradise,

c.1930

The last Biblical scene shown here is that of ‘Moses and the Burning Bush.’ This is the story in the Bible of how God spoke to Moses and told him to go down to Egypt to free the Israelite slaves and return them to the land of Canaan. Moses was in the fields near Mount Sinai tending to his flocks of sheep when, all of the sudden, a bush begins to burn before his eyes but was not consumed by the fire. Moses realized that this was something divine and suddenly he hears God speak to him through the bush. God tells Moses to return to the land of Egypt and go before the Pharaoh and, by the name of God, order him to free the Israelite slaves. Moses protests that he is not suitable for the role of leading the Jews, and he proclaims his unworthiness to God for seven days and seven nights. Finally he accepts his role and agrees to return to Egypt to free the Israelites and bring them home to the land of Israel.

Refugees in London & the new cafe culture

In 1936, Dodo left Berlin for London, leaving her children in the care of Hans Burgner, with the understanding that they would join her there soon after. Wartime London was a world away from her decadent, bohemian life on the continent, and this upheaval clearly had quite the impact on her creativity. She continued her practise, if less prolifically - designing the occasional commission for UK based companies such as John Lewis, driven less by egotism and more by the need to support her family.

Thousands of refugees, Jewish and other, also felt this upheaval. Many had lived vibrant, cultured lives in their home countries, but were faced with poverty and were met with derision on their arrival in London. Writers, artists and actors, who had once enjoyed the decadent, bohemian café culture which typified pre-War Berlin, found themselves immersed in a completely different type of café culture in North West London, one that ensured they could buy a cheap, hot meal each day.

Frederick Feigl, The Restaurant



What do you think is meant by Café Society/Café Culture?

Imagine the cafes that Dodo would have frequented in Berlin.

Describe the people she would have seen, the sights, smells, conversation…

What kinds of things would the customers do there?

What would they eat or drink?

What are they wearing?

Describe the customers, the sights, smells, conversation…

What kinds of things would the customers do there?

What would they eat or drink?

What are they wearing?

What are they looking at?

Who are they talking to?

Why would the artist choose to depict people in a café?

What does café society mean to you?

As more people sought refuge in this corner of London, more cafes opened up in Hampstead and the surrounding areas, some of which still exist today.

Now think about the cafes in east London in the 1930-40s, where the same people would visit a few years later.

What has changed?

Ben Tobias, Cafe Zeus, Berlin



The Second World War may have drastically limited the production of books in the UK, but it also paved the way for many artists to forge careers in book illustration. Dodo was one of these artists, and her arrival in London marked a new stage in her career, producing smaller, modest drawings for greetings cards, adver-tisements and children’s books. This commissioned work came with a guaranteed pay cheque, something which became increasingly important to Dodo, as her two children joined her in London from their former home in Berlin.

She also tried out the role of author, producing her own children’s books, Dog and Timothy being one such work, although it was never published.

Female Émigré ArtistsIllustrations for Children’s Books

Once a rebellious, androgynously dressed young artist, Dodo began to produce sweet, inoffensive drawings of children at play for various publications, citing her daughter Anja as the model. Due to rationing, the illustrations were reproduced on low quality wartime paper.

Book Cover: Dog and Timothy, written and illustrated by Dodo Adler, 1940



Book Cover: Good Fun Singing Games, illustrated by Dodo Adler, 1946

Book Cover: Dancing Star, illustrated by Dodo Adler, c.1940

Children’s book illustration was a female dominated industry at this time. This may have been because women were more adept at identifying and describing key archetypes and trends within children’s literature. As many were mothers themselves, they would have been familiar with popular imagery through the books they were reading to their own children.

Another reason for the dominance of women children’s illustrators at this time may have been its reputation as a feminine career; children’s book illustration is often described as charming, delightful, or enchanting, not particularly endearing as a masculine profession for the macho post-war male of this era. Men appeared particularly drawn to the commercial advertising industry which had become a successful source of income for illustrators and allowed greater recognition of their work to aid their transition from commercial to fine art.

Compare Dodo’s children’s illustrations to her earlier work

How are they similar/how do they differ in terms of content, colour, style, purpose?

What challenges do you think Dodo faced as an artist when she moved to England?

How is success measured in art? Compare for example, Damien Hirst and Vincent van Gogh.

Many other female émigrés established similar ca-reer paths. German artists Katerina Wilczynski, Bet-tina Ehrlich and Susan Einzig all took on other crea-tive jobs to earn money, at a time when they could not sustain a living from their fine art practice.



Katerina Wilczynski, Liege, 1946

As most illustration is done on a freelance basis, it would have been an ideal occupation for the 1940/50s female artist who would need to arrange her work around taking care of the home and family. Also, the female émigré artist would have had the extra burden of settling into their new country and culture.

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