Reading the painting 'Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden' by Otto Dix

During the 1920s, when Germany was healing the scars of its massive defeat in World War I, a new art movement Neue Sachlichkeit ("New Objectivity") gained momentum.

Rejecting idealism and romantic longings of the expressionists, the Weimer intellectuals, were willing to focus on public engagement and real issues.

Society was changing and so was the status of women in Germany. Women were no more interested in living a virtuous life and fulfilling the desires of their husbands but rather aspired to redefine the definition of "womanhood".

A new woman ("Neue Frau") in German was seen on the streets of Berlin who was career-oriented, cigarette smoking, boyishly dressed, and unafraid of solitude.

Otto Dix, a German painter, and a pioneer of the New Objectivity depicted the societal shits happening in Germany through his painting Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden. The painting is housed in Musée National d'Art Moderne, Paris.

This article would delve into reading this unusual portrait and how this painting redefined womanhood in Germany.

Reading the painting - Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden

Sylvia von Harden was a German journalist and poet. Otto Dix met Sylvia coincidentally on the street of Berlin and was instantly impressed by her unconventional looks. He stated:

Otto Dix: 'I must paint you! I simply must!… You are representative of an entire epoch!'

Sylvia: 'So, you want to paint my lacklustre eyes, my ornate ears, my long nose, my thin lips; you want to paint my long hands, my short legs, my big feet - things which can only scare people off and delight no-one?'

Otto Dix: 'You have brilliantly characterized yourself, and all that will lead to a portrait representative of an epoch concerned not with the outward beauty of a woman but rather with her psychological condition.'

Sylvia agreed to be Dix's muse and posed for him for several sessions until the portrait was completed. The physical appearance and her actions were exactly replicated from her real self but with more exaggeration --

• Sylvia is shown as the androgynous-looking woman sitting cross-legged in front of a round table. The pink background with no decorative pieces adds a subtle tone, accentuating Sylia's aura.

• She is wearing a red and black high-collared dress with a cigarette in her right hand, a customized cigarette box with her name, and a glass of drink placed on the round table.

• As Dix mentioned, he would rather focus on the psychological condition of the woman and not outward beauty - exactly the same description is put on canvas. The face is shown triangular with a pointed chin and a masculine haircut. She has flat breasts and her left fingers are long with slightly protruding bones. She is wearing a monocle in her right eye that was usually associated with men in that era. On her pale skin, stands out the slightly ajar mouth with a dark red lipstick. She is wearing light stockings, one of which is slipping away on the right leg.

• She is not wearing a wedding ring and sitting alone in the corner of a room.

How this painting redefined womanhood

This artwork exuded the onset of feminism in the modern world. Domestic chores were no more a woman's prerogative and 'she' focused to be self-dependant and living her life on her own terms.

In this portrait, Sylvia is represented as a thinker and an intellectual who sits quietly in a corner, empowering her loneliness. Compared to a traditional historical painting of a woman, her gaze and appearance might not look appealing but the subject is not intended for the male gaze but rather focusing on the change in the mindset of a man towards a woman and embracing their new position in society.

Otto Dix believed that Syliva aptly represented an entire epoch; a woman who should not be considered as a "mere commodity" but rather holds a "respectable and tangible position" in society.

References-

1. Utopia/Dystopia

2. Androgyny is in for Sylvia von harden and Otto Dix

3. Otto Dix, Sylvia von Harden and the New Woman