Ellen Auerbach. Bauhaus Artist from Karlsruhe I & II

During this evening Markus Heltschl and Thomas Tode present various film portraits of the Bauhaus women artists and friends Ellen Auerbach (née Rosenberg) and Grete Stern, that are both important contemporary documents and personal biographies of the artists.

Auerbach was born on 20 May, 1906 in Karlsruhe. Inspired by the exhibition »Film and Foto« in Stuttgart in 1929, she met Bauhaus photography professor Walter Peterhans and became his private student. Auerbach's own films and those of Grete Stern and her husband Horacio Coppola are part of the exhibition »bauhaus.film.expanded« at the ZKM. The supporting program presents four film portraits of the innovative artists.

The film portraits »Ellen Auerbach« (1992) and »Grete Stern« (1992) by Antonia Lerch introduce the innovative »ringl + pit« photo studio, which is named after the photographers' nicknames.

»The third eye. The CVs of the photographers Grete Stern and Ellen Auerbach« (1995) by Frieder Schlaich and Irene von Alberti is a personal film portrait of both women. Auerbach is sometimes critical of her home in Baden-Württemberg and jokes about local peculiarities. Her open and direct manner has resulted in an intense, sensitive, and entertaining portrait.

The American film portrait »ringl + pit« (1995) by Juan Mandelbaum is the only one that also quotes and incorporates Auerbach's film works.

Films by Auerbach, which are also featured in the exhibition »bauhaus.film.expanded«: »Grosse Reise« (1933/1934), »Tel Aviv« (1934/1935), »Bertold Brecht in Exile in London« (1936), »Heiterer Tag auf Rügen« (1933), »Gretchen hat Ausgang« (1933)