Marta Ehrlich, Paris, 1938

Marta Ehrlich
Paris, 1938
tempera on paper
433 x 573 mm
MG-4713

There were very few women painters in Croatia between the two World Wars. The artistic culture was largely defined by a “male gaze,” to borrow Laura Mulvey’s term, which she used in 1973 to describe commercial film, historically shaped by heterosexual men for their own viewing pleasure. The extent to which Erlich’s artistic work can be understood in this context remains for future researchers, but it is clear that her time in Paris had a lasting impact. While the so-called Paris School of the 1930s, characterised by a pluralism of realistic painting approaches – ranging from various post-impressionist to surrealist styles – was already losing its influence, it still left a deep trace in Marta Ehrlich’s work. This trace can most succinctly be described as the concept of freedom. Specifically, during the interwar period, the Zagreb art and pedagogical scene placed a strong emphasis on discipline in drawing and colour. Any departure from local style or rigid composition was discouraged. In this work, as well as all the other paintings created in Paris, Marta Ehrlich turns to a different form of painting. Squares enclosed by palaces, full of trees and passers-by, capture her attention. She typically depicts them from above; tree trunks lose their volume and mass, becoming simple lines painted with a brush, along with branches, while the leaves are depicted as a series of colourful smudges, devoid of clear outlines. The trees seamlessly merge with building façades, creating a sense of fluidity that – consistent with post-impressionist tendencies – seems to shimmer in the air.

Text: Klaudio Štefančić, senior curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

Marta Ehrlich, Male Nude 1933., Female Nude, 1933.

Marta Ehrlich

Male Nude, 1933.
red chalk on paper
MG-4720

Female Nude, 1933.
red chalk on paper
MG-4721

Before photography became widely accessible, drawing was commonly employed by artists as an auxiliary tool for creating intricate paintings or sculptures. Drawing achieved its prominent status during the Renaissance and maintained this role until the rise of modern artistic movements. Every artistic discipline – be it painting, sculpture, or architecture – started with drawing. While it was often referred to colloquially as “training the hand,” its true function was to help artists master artistic principles. Besides “training the hand,” drawing was also linked to the notion that “drawing is seeing.” It was believed that a distinct connection existed between the hand and the eye, and that those who “cannot see” would also fail to draw effectively. Only what was known or prescribed by the rules was observed and depicted. Thus, prior to modernism, the process of drawing could be encapsulated as: “First I observe, then I draw.” Modernism, however, introduced a shift to: “First I think, then I draw.”

When Marta Ehrlich made her debut on the art scene between the two World Wars, both approaches to drawing were prevalent. The first approach was prominent in art schools, while the second was influential in developed artistic milieus. Her time spent in one such environment (Paris) did not alter her method of drawing the human nude; instead, it led to changes in her work in other genres, including still life, veduta, and self-portrait. These nudes, created during her studies in Zagreb in 1933, still adhere to the rules of depicting the body’s volume and mass, whether in motion or at rest. However, there may be a hint of the “female gaze” in these drawings, a particular experience, because if drawing is a form of seeing, then it is difficult to separate the artwork from the artist’s gender identity.

Text: Klaudio Štefančić, senior curator of the National Museum of Modern Art © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb
Translated by: Robertina Tomić
Photo: Goran Vranić © National Museum of Modern Art, Zagreb

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