Women-only clubs and associations—are they still important today? At the very least, the celebrations marking “100 Years of the Association of Women Artists and Art Patrons (GEDOK)” have once again clearly demonstrated to me what they can achieve. GEDOK, for example, highlights how women in the arts have historically faced structural disadvantages, even though they produced excellent work. The conditions may be better today, but—keyword “gender pay gap”—we still have to fight to be heard, seen, and recognized.
It gave me great pleasure to deliver the keynote address at the GEDOK ceremony. Long after my time as an active cultural politician, I once again engaged with the talented women from the worlds of art, music, and literature and took great joy in them.
Here is the speech I gave:
“How many modern female artists can you, dear guests who are not GEDOK members, name? Female sculptors? Female painters? Female musicians? Women in literature are probably the first to come to mind… But you will certainly have far more names of male artists in your heads than of women.”
Most women in modern art and music history have been forgotten, and there are structural reasons for this. Although they have contributed to art history on an equal footing with men, female artists have not received the recognition they deserve. For centuries, they were excluded from art schools, galleries, and museums. Before the rise of feminism in the 1970s, they had virtually no platform for exhibiting their works. No wonder, then, that major female figures remain significantly less visible even today.
One important exception is Ida Dehmel, who founded GEDOK as early as the 1920s—which is why we are gathered here today!
Great female visual artists, however, contributed to all the art movements that preceded this era of female emancipation, particularly from Impressionism in the late 19th century through Abstract Expressionism to Surrealism. These artists, who worked in the shadow of their male contemporaries, remain little known to this day.
In Impressionism, female painters were part of the close-knit circle of Impressionists; they often exhibited alongside them and shaped the style through their own perspectives, frequently focusing on domestic scenes, depictions of women, and private spaces.
- Berthe Morisot (1841–1895): One of the four “great ladies” of Impressionism, whose work is considered groundbreaking.
- Marie Bracquemond (1840–1916): Known for her vibrant color palette and outdoor scenes.
- Eva Gonzalès (1849–1883): A student of Manet who distinguished herself with her own style within Impressionism.
In Expressionism, women were part of the artist groups “Die Brücke” or “Der Blaue Reiter” and used intense colors and forms to express emotional states.
- Gabriele Münter (1877–1962): A key figure of the Blue Rider, known for her expressive landscapes and portraits. She was honored by GEDOK with the naming of an award, as we can read in the commemorative publication
- Paula Modersohn-Becker (1876–1907): A pioneer of early Expressionism who shaped the transition from Impressionism to Expressionist art.
- And at least Käthe Kollwitz (1867–1945): is well known for her powerful prints and sculptures that express social distress.
Women played a central role in Surrealism by exploring dream worlds, the subconscious, and the absurd, often from a feminist perspective.
- Frida Kahlo (1907–1954): Although she did not always consider herself a Surrealist, her work is closely associated with Surrealism due to the dreamlike depiction of her life story.
- Meret Oppenheim (1913–1985): Famous for her Surrealist objects.
- Dora Maar (1907–1997): Known for her surrealist photography and photomontages.
Through their groundbreaking works, these artists introduced new perspectives into male-dominated art movements and paved the way for future generations.
Many female artists in art history were not recognized for their work until late in life, sometimes only in old age or even posthumously. As mentioned, this was often due to social structures that made it difficult for women to access artistic education or classified their work as secondary. Women who composed music also had to fight for their positions and were only visible in the public eye through the support of their fathers, brothers, or husbands.
But women wouldn’t be women if they didn’t find ways and means to achieve their goals. Take, for example, Emily Brontë, who published her works—including her novel *Wuthering Heights*—under the male pseudonym Ellis Bell. Or women like Clara Schumann, Robert Schumann’s wife, who, though pressured by her husband to fulfill her duties as a housewife and mother, relied on her concert earnings for many years to secure the family’s income. Ida Dehmel’s biography also reveals that she was a political figure who campaigned for women’s suffrage. A certain type of person—or woman—who felt a calling to take action, even in the face of opposition.
Others experienced the opposite—take Fanny Hensel from Hamburg, the sister of Felix Mendelssohn. Her compositional oeuvre, of which only a small portion has been published to date, comprises over 460 works and was—with few exceptions—donated from the family’s possession to the Prussian Cultural Heritage Foundation in 1964. A musical career and publications during her lifetime had been largely forbidden to her by her family. Her father believed that music might become a profession for her brother Felix. For her, however—as he wrote in a letter to his daughter in 1820—music could “only ever be an ornament, always a means of education, the foundation of your being and doing.” And when one reads that her teacher Zelter, in a letter to Goethe in 1831, praised her highly, saying she played the piano “like a man,” one realizes just how tainted that praise is when the man is regarded as the measure of all things.
In another quote related to Fanny Hensel, we see how much she, too, longed for recognition of her abilities. She wrote to her brother in 1838: “Dear Felix, I haven’t composed a single thing this winter, though I’ve certainly played music all the more; but I no longer know what it feels like to want to write a song. […] What does it matter, anyway? No one cares about it anyway, and no one dances to my tune.”
Maria Anna Mozart (Nannerl) (1751–1829), the older sister of W.A. Mozart, was also a talented pianist and composer. Although many of her works have been lost, her contribution to her famous brother’s musical development and to the history of classical music is increasingly recognized.
So if we want to describe what Ida Dehmel achieved for women in the arts by founding GEDOK, it was absolutely groundbreaking on several levels:
- She gave women with musical and artistic talents a space where they could flourish with all their passion
- She gave them recognition in society and self-confidence
- She helped them earn a living through their art. As chair of the Culture Committee in the German Bundestag, I have witnessed firsthand that this remains a struggle for both genders to this day. In that role, I also oversaw the Artists’ Social Security Fund and saw firsthand just how low the annual incomes of artists were—and still are. And in today’s world, where AI technologies couldn’t care less about copyright, it’s even harder.
In many areas of society, we are debating whether all-female associations are necessary, whether there needs to be a focus on promoting women, and whether quotas are needed for women to advance. Women have come a long way on the path to equality. We look at current social structures and see that we have not yet reached our goal. Perhaps, however, we have made more progress in the arts than in business and politics—with many young women writers, singers, painters, and musicians. GEDOK has undoubtedly contributed to this. For such organizations—whether they are artistic associations for women or networks of female entrepreneurs—create a space for self-affirmation, which, in my opinion, is still important.
100 years after its founding, I wish GEDOK and its nearly 3,000 members in 23 cities even greater success and recognition! Today’s Senate reception is certainly a worthy step in that direction. I thank the Senator for Culture for this recognition, and I wish the many volunteers who work tirelessly all the strength they need for their efforts.
Thank you very much!”
Monika Griefahn GmbH
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