Marta Astfalck-Vietz: Staging the Self

Press tour: Wednesday, July 9, 11am
Opening: Thursday, July 10, 7pm

In a single decade known as the Golden Twenties artist Marta Astfalck-Vietz (1901–1994) authored an iridescent opus of self-enactments, nude and dance photography and experimental images. She worked behind the camera and in front of it—photographer, director and model all in one. Astfalck-Vietz observed gender roles in the Weimar Republic with humour, wielding her camera with confidence to depict the versatile potential for female identity. Incorporating masks, theatrical poses and grotesque elements she forged a style which combined private introspection with social and political issues.

In its 50th anniversary year, the Berlinische Galerie is dedicating an extensive solo exhibition with more than 140 works to Marta Astfalck-Vietz. Drawing on recent research into her publication practice and on feminist perspectives, the exhibition and catalogue present her largely overlooked œuvre and consider its place within art history. Six chapters address her works theme by theme, turning a spotlight on her avant-garde photography and, for the first time, her watercolours of plants. These were increasingly important to Astfalck-Vietz from the mid-1930s and remained a focus for the rest of her life.

Selected photographs by her contemporaries, among them Marianne Breslauer (1909–2001), Lotte Jacobi (1896–1990), Cami (1892–1975) and Sasha Stone (1895–1940), illustrate the aesthetic and thematic context within which Astfalck-Vietz operated. Artists Andreas Langfeld (*1984) and Sophie Thun (*1985) have created a single-channel video commenting on the impact of this remarkable personality from today’s perspective.

Fabric, lace, cosplay
Marta Astfalck-Vietz’s work reveals many facets, often centered on self-enactment. She stages herself in imaginative compositions using fabric—floral lace, shiny brocade—and dramatic lighting. Her carefully arranged photographs play with identity, masquerade, and the tensions between hiding and revealing. Shifting between roles, she morphs into various versions of womanhood, evoking 1920s glamour and dance.

Setting the stage
Alongside introspective photographs, Astfalck-Vietz involved friends in scenic narratives: reading emancipatory literature, waiting or preparing for a party. With humour and irony, she exposes traditional female roles and contemporary stereotypes. Series and stand-alones grant insights into social phenomena but also into the popular culture of the 1920s. She published these pictures in the widely read magazines of the day, in specialist journals like “Die Aufklärung” and in annual reviews such as “Das Deutsche Lichtbild”.

Shared copyright: the Combi-Phot.
The artist’s almost lifelong friendship with Heinz Hajek-Halke (1898–1983) was a defining influence. They met in 1922 at the college run by the Museum of Decorative Arts in Berlin. They both worked for the Berlin agency Presse-Photo but also created their own innovative photographs as independent artists. They conceived, designed and implemented these as equals, sometimes signed “Combi-Phot.”. The motifs reflect social phenomena such as loneliness, alcoholism and a fashionable fad for spookiness.

Bodies in motion and pose
Marta Astfalck-Vietz also worked in professional dance photography, focusing on expressive movement rather than stage performance. During Berlin’s embrace of modern dance, she captured iconic figures like Mary Wigmann (1886–1973) and Josephine Baker (1906–1975). Her photos—used in media, ads, and programmes—feature not only dancers but also hands, sometimes adorned with fur or jewelry, forming a distinct body of work.

Botanical watercolours
Astfalck-Vietz used plants as “living models” for her many watercolours from the mid-1930s onwards. Her botanical paintings are naturalist depictions of flora but she was equally captivated by their almost dance-like grace. Over time these arrangements become airier, even ornamental or sketch-like. By the end of her life she had produced more than 6.000 watercolours. Her interest in botany led to contacts with well-known gardeners. Some species have even been named after her.

About the artist
Born in 1901 in Neudamm (now Dębno in Poland), Marta Astfalck-Vietz moved to Berlin in 1912. She trained in textile and studied fashion, book illustration and commercial graphics at the college affiliated to Berlin’s Museum of Decorative Arts. From 1925 and 1926 she learned photography under Lutz Kloss. At the age of 26 she opened her first studio. In 1928, she met the architect Hellmuth Astfalck and married him a year later. Together they founded their studio for “Photography, Propaganda and Decorative Art”. Economic hardship and the Nazi's regulation of professional photography  pushed them towards advertising, commercial graphics, and interior decoration. During these years Astfalck-Vietz tutored Jewish children excluded from state-funded schools. After World War II, returning to her pre-war photographic work was no longer possible. Instead, she taught, worked in social services and focused on watercolours. In 1970, after over 50 years in Berlin, she and her husband moved to Nienhagen near Celle, where she continued to teach art. Marta Astfalck-Vietz died in 1994 at the age of 92.

History of the estate
Her Berlin studio was destroyed in a 1943 air raid, but many of her works survived safeguarded by her father, art publisher Reinhold Vietz (1873–1958). In the 1920s she had sent him some of her photographs as gifts which he later returned after the war. Her work remained largely forgotten until 1989, when two photographs marked “Marta Vietz” featured in the exhibition “Photography as Photography” at the Berlinische Galerie. This re-established contact with the artist, then living in Lower Saxony. In 1990, she gifted many of her works to the museum, and the collection grew after her death. In 2022/2023 the estate was digitised and partially restored through a Berlin state-funded cultural heritage programme.

Exhibition catalogue
A bilingual catalogue in German and English will be published by Hirmer Verlag and can be purchased at the museum shop for 34,80 EUR.

The exhibition has been funded by the Förderverein Berlinische Galerie e.V.

Contact Berlinische Galerie
Berlinische Galerie 
Museum for Modern Art, Photography and Architecture
Sascha Perkins
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Tel +49 (0)30 789 02 829 
perkins@berlinischegalerie.de
berlinischegalerie.de 

Press contact
Karoline Köber 
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