Recente Posts

Tuesday 7 October 2014

"Frauen schaffen für euch" Postcards

According to Penny Colman one of the most dramatic changes during World War II was the number of women who went to work. As the armed forces filled its ranks with manpower, industry filled its jobs with womanpower.
Because of the absence of many men who either joined the military or took jobs in war production industries, some women moved outside their traditional roles and took positions in jobs usually reserved for men.
Germany was ruled by the same conditions. By 1945, German women were holding 85% of the billets as clericals, accountants, interpreters, laboratory workers, and administrative workers, together with half of the clerical and junior administrative posts in high-level field headquarters.
Like other country's there was propaganda who focused on the female worker. Erich Gutjahr Bildverlag at Berlin was a publisher who issued 20 postcards with drawings of three different painters: Hahmeyer, Becker and Gagelmann. The serie was titled 'Frauen schaffen für euch" (Women working for you).

Hahmeyer

Not much is known of Eva Hahmeyer. She was an illustrator of various books. In this case the subject was a postcard of a NSV-woman.

The Nationalsozialistische Volkswohlfahrt (NSV), meaning "National Socialist People's Welfare" was a social welfare organization during the Third Reich. The NSV became established as the single Nazi Party welfare organ in May 1933. One of the  special fields was "Mother and child".



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 655
Titel: "NSV-Kindergärtnerin"
Artist: Eva Hahmeyer


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 656
Titel: "NSV-Helferin im Bahnhofsdienst"
Artist: Eva Hahmeyer 

Becker

It is almost certain that Becker came from a famous artist family. But that is all.

Picture no. 667 shows a DRK-woman. DRK means Das Deutsche Rote Kreuz (Red Cross). Following Hitler's takeover of the government in Germany in January 1933, the NSDAP (Nazi Party) moved to control the Red Cross. Thus the DRK became a legally recognized organization of the NSDAP in December 1937. Finally, at the end of 1938 the German Red Cross officially came under the control of the Ministry of the Interior's Social Welfare Organization, becoming de facto a Nazi entity.



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 653
Titel: "Die Zugschaffnerin"
Artist: Becker


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 654
Titel: "Die Postbotin"
Artist: Becker 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 663
Titel: "Die Postbeamtin"
Artist: Becker


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 664
Titel: "Die Laborantin"
Artist: Becker 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 665
Titel: "Bei der Ernte"
Artist: Becker


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 666
Titel: "In der Maschinenfabrik"
Artist: Becker 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 667
Titel: "Die DRK-Schwester"
Artist: Becker


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 668
Titel: "Kraftwagenführerin"
Artist: Becker 

Gagelmann

Gert Gagelmann was known for his illustrations for fashion-magazines. But with proud breasts and high heels Gagelmann pushed the woman a little bit further than only fashionable.

Update: February 2016
Till now I was not aware of the existence of a considerable, unsigned, collection off erotic drawings contributed to "Julie Delcourt" or "German". Warning: the link provided contains explicit sexual content:
 
There is discussion whether Gagelmann could be the unknown artist of these unsigned drawings. In my opinion the postcards and the drawings show indeed an astonishing similarity. In my 2014 blogpost I made the observation that Gagelmann pushed  some women a little bit further than only fashionable. That meant that Gagelmann in my opinion was well aware of the sexual component which could be added to a, ad first glance, ordinary scene. If it turns out that Gagelmann is indeed the unknown artist I can not say that I would be surprised.    
 


Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 649
Titel: "Die Straßenbahnschaffnerin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 650
Titel: "Die Stenotypistin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 651
Titel: "Die Aufsichtsbeamtin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 652
Titel: "Im Flugzugbau"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 657
Titel: "Die technische Zeichnerin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 658
Titel: "Die Ärztin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 659
Titel: "Uniformschneiderei"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 660
Titel: "DRK-Helferin im Bahnhofsdienst"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann 



Frauen schaffen für euch
No. 661
Titel: "In der Munitionsfabrik"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann


Frauen schaffen für euch
N0. 662
Titel: "Die Fernsprechbeamtin"
Artist: Gert Gagelmann 

10 reacties:

Cat said...

Hello,
thanks to your work, I managed to discover that a mysterious erotic artist called badly "Julie Delcourt" is Gert Gaglemann.

agracier said...

Somehow I have the impression that Julie Delcourt is an altogether separate artist. My guess is that Gagelmann came across the Julie Delcourt drawings (2 that I know of) and copied them, incorporating the setup and poses into his extensive series of enema illustrations that were apparently commissioned by someone after the war. Or else perhaps the person who commissioned Gagelmann wanted further illustrations in this style ...

Cat said...

@A Gracier: you like complicated stories, no? It's obvious here and you need some more mystery. Maybe it was Elvis Presley who asked Picasso to draw like Gaglemann.

Pantorijn said...

@Camille MM

Thanks for your comment. The cards of Gagelmann are, as I mentioned in my blogpost, erotic by nature. The women hide a secret desire. Compared with your examples it is striking how one and an other fit together.

agracier said...

@Camille MM

I don't particularly care for complicated stories, because it becomes more difficult to figure things out.

But on the other hand, declaring Julie Delcourt and Gagelmann to be one and the same artist seems a bit too simple. There is no reason to think that artists didn't copy other works they liked or wished to have a copy of. Remember, these drawings were made in the days before photocopiers. I've also read in various 1930s sexology works published in Germany (before the Nazi takeover obviously) that sharing erotic illustrations, or making them according to the wishes of others, was not an uncommon practice. Think Bernard Montorgueil whose work was also shared and circulated before it was printed in book form.

And there is also the question of style. Gagelmann's work is highly polished and finished as with that of commercial artists. Julie Delcourt's 2 drawings are competent of course, but they do seem to be the work of a gifted amateur.

And then you could also ask: if 2 drawings were signed as Julie Delcourt, why not sign the other 100+ series of enema illustrations with the same name?

I still think Julie Delcourt and Gagelmann being 2 seperate people makes the most sense.

Cat said...

@Gracier: OK, it's not a very intersting discussion. I suggest something based on solid proof, you suggest something else based on your own feelings. I cannot argue against feelings so I end the discussion here.

agracier said...

I wasn't talking about my feelings. Where do you read anything about feelings?

I simply pointed out and explained several reasons that might support what I think to be the case: Delcourt and Gagelmann are 2 separate illustrators. Even just by looking at the two illustrations by Delcourt and Gagelmann of the same scene, there is no denying that the styles are different.

Unknown said...

Perhaps a comment from an art historian and an artist is in order here. My undergraduate degree is in art history and I continued on to obtain another one in studio practices in art. After reading the short discussion/argument on Gert Gagelmann, I think I can see that both Camille MM and A Gracier essentially agree when you get right down to it. Gert Gagelmann is most probably the artist of the very fine erotic enema themed watercolours now well known to many. The stylistic affinities between the "Frauen schaffen fur euch" (trans. Women working for you) postcards circa 1943 and the enema series are undeniable. Any working artist fluent in watercolour practices will tell you as much. There is no reason, in my opinion, to believe that Julia Delcourt was anything other than someone who opportunistically chose to make artistically inferior copies of a couple of the Gagelmann watercolours and then simply sign her name to them. I hope this clears things up.

Gongoozler said...

I’m quite sure that the “Julie Delcourt” drawings are inferior copies made with the intention of creating confusion.

agracier said...

I'm certain the 'Julie Delcourt' drawings are copies. However I doubt they were made to create confusion. What would be the point and who would they be meant to confuse?

The JC drawings are probably just copies made back when photocopying was not available and when people did wish to have copies of drawings they particularly admired or liked.