Her often ironic portrayals of urban life in Berlin, with a pronounced feminist touch, appeared in numerous publications and in 1930 a solo exhibition in the Gallery Wolfgang Gurlitt brought her to the attention of an even wider public.
This 17½ x 14in (45 x 37cm) watercolour and pencil drawing Ausweg (Way Out), on sale at Ketterer in Munich on December 11, dates from this period. It was first published in 1930 in the periodical Jugend (Youth) and was one of Mammen’s commentaries on the hedonistic attitudes of her day.
Soon after the rise of the Nazis, all critical publications were banned and Mammen lost her major source of income. She continued painting in secret, devoting herself mainly to Abstract art. Although she worked again after the war, it was only in the 1970s, shortly before her death, that her contribution to the art of the Weimar Republic was recognised.
In recent years, she has figured prominently in exhibitions; in 2017 and earlier this year, Ausweg was on show at exhibitions in Berlin and Mannheim. Her works also have a substantial market following. The estimate is €60,000-80,000.
