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Ella Bergmann-Michel

1950
(American, 1899–1998)
America, 20th century
gelatin silver print
Image: 22.8 x 16.1 cm (9 x 6 5/16 in.); Mounted: 43.5 x 35.9 cm (17 1/8 x 14 1/8 in.); Paper: 22.8 x 16.1 cm (9 x 6 5/16 in.)
Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2012.397
© Estate of Ilse Bing
Location: not on view
This artwork is known to be under copyright.

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Description

Shortly after Ilse Bing decided to become a photographer, she met artist, photographer, and filmmaker Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896–1971). When this portrait was made, they had been friends for two decades. An important role model for women artists in post–World War I Germany, Bergmann-Michel shared with Bing an aesthetic approach: creating abstractions that were rooted in reality. As Bing explained, their work stood out from other nonrepresentational artists because it was “based on ongoing life in even the most abstract pictures.”
Ella Bergmann-Michel

Ella Bergmann-Michel

1950

Ilse Bing

(American, 1899–1998)
America, 20th century

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