Irene Below (born 1942) is a German woman art historian.

Life

Below studied in Munich, Cologne and Berlin. From 1964 to 1967 she was a

German Academic Exchange Service The German Academic Exchange Service, or DAAD (german: Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst), was founded in 1925 and is the largest German support organisation in the field of international academic co-operation. Organisation ''DAAD'' is a ...

scholarship holder for Florence and was awarded a doctorate in 1971 with a dissertation on

Leonardo da Vinci Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...

and

Filippino Lippi Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance. Biography Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...

. As early as 1972, at a congress of the ''Association of German Art Historians'' in Constance, Below suggested that the question of women in art history should be considered and thus initiated a discussion on the

feminist Feminism is a range of socio-political movements and ideologies that aim to define and establish the political, economic, personal, and social equality of the sexes. Feminism incorporates the position that society prioritizes the male po ...

perspective in art history. From 1974 to 2004, Below taught at the

Bielefeld University Bielefeld University (german: Universität Bielefeld) is a university in Bielefeld, Germany. Founded in 1969, it is one of the country's newer universities, and considers itself a "reform" university, following a different style of organization a ...

, since 2007 as a

lecturer Lecturer is an List of academic ranks, academic rank within many universities, though the meaning of the term varies somewhat from country to country. It generally denotes an academic expert who is hired to teach on a full- or part-time basis. T ...

at the University of Bielefeld in the Department of Art and Music. This is accompanied by freelance work as a curator and journalist. From 1995 until 1999, she undertook research trips to South Africa. In 2000, she was a founding member of ''frauenkunstforum-owl e. V.'' and 1987-1994 a spokesperson for the

women's studies Women's studies is an academic field that draws on feminist and interdisciplinary methods to place women's lives and experiences at the center of study, while examining social and cultural constructs of gender; systems of privilege and oppress ...

section in art studies in the . Since 1988, she has been the initiator of the Women's Forum in the . In 1998, Below became involved against the name

Richard Kaselowsky Richard Kaselowsky (14 August 1888 – 30 September 1944) was a German entrepreneur, industrialist, and member of the Nazi Party. He was the eldest son of the manufacturer Richard Kaselowsky, a deputy in the Prussian state parliament. He was ...

for the

Kunsthalle Bielefeld The Kunsthalle Bielefeld is a modern and contemporary art museum in Bielefeld, Germany. It was designed by Philip Johnson in 1968, and paid for by the businessman and art patron Rudolf August Oetker.Thomas Kellein turned to the school board for support against this "teacher gone wild".. She was and is involved in many socio-political activities; in the 1980s she was co-founder of a self-managed day-care centre with alternative pedagogy, and in 2017 of the self-help initiative "Wir für uns-anders Altern". Below is married and has two sons. She lives in

Werther ''Werther'' is an opera (''drame lyrique'') in four acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Édouard Blau, Paul Milliet and Georges Hartmann (who used the pseudonym Henri Grémont). It is loosely based on Goethe's epistolary novel ''The S ...

near

Bielefeld Bielefeld () is a city in the Ostwestfalen-Lippe Region in the north-east of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. With a population of 341,755, it is also the most populous city in the administrative region (''Regierungsbezirk'') of Detmold and the ...

North Rhine-Westphalia North Rhine-Westphalia (german: Nordrhein-Westfalen, ; li, Noordrien-Wesfale ; nds, Noordrhien-Westfalen; ksh, Noodrhing-Wäßßfaale), commonly shortened to NRW (), is a States of Germany, state (''Land'') in Western Germany. With more tha ...

Main areas of work

Her work focuses on the settlement of architecture of the 1920s,

feminist art Feminist art is a category of art associated with the late 1960s and 1970s feminist movement. Feminist art highlights the societal and political differences women experience within their lives. The hopeful gain from this form of art is to bri ...

and

cultural studies Cultural studies is an interdisciplinary field that examines the political dynamics of contemporary culture (including popular culture) and its historical foundations. Cultural studies researchers generally investigate how cultural practices re ...

, female artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, periphery and centre in art, the art world and science, and studies on the exile of artists and scientists.

Publications

* ''Die schönen Zeiten sind vorbei. Die schönen Zeiten hat es nie gegeben. Politische Kultur von unten in einer Reforminstitution'' – Irene Below (author), Peter Fuchs (writer), Frankfurt, 1986 * ''Es gab nicht nur das Bauhaus'': Below (writer)

Bauhaus Dessau Foundation The Bauhaus Dessau Foundation is a nonprofit organization devoted to research and teaching in the field of experimental design. It was founded by the German Federal Government in 1994 and is based in the Bauhaus Dessau building in the state of S ...

, 1994 * Gisela Wölbing/Gertrud van Dyck: Historische Museen: Schriften der Historischen Museen der Stadt Bielefeld 8. Irene Below, Jörg Boström, Jutta Hülsewieg-Johnen, Gottfried Jäger, Rosa Schumacher, Sybille Seiger. Westfalen Verlag, 1996 *

Irma Stern Irma Stern (2 October 1894 – 23 August 1966) was a major South African artist who achieved national and international recognition in her lifetime. Life Stern was born in Schweizer-Reneke, a small town in the Transvaal, of German-Jewish pa ...

and the

Expressionism Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

. Afrika und Europa. Irene Below (writer), Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen (writer) Christof Kerber Verlag, 1998 * Hidden treasures, Irma Stern, Irene Below: Society of Bibliophiles in Cape Town, 2000 * ''Die Vorteile des Künstlerinnendaseins'': Susanne Albrecht (author), Irene Below (author), Angela Kahre (author) ''Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung'' (IFF), 2001 * eins und doppelt: Irene Below (foreword), Joachim Bünemann (foreword), Stefanie Lux-Althoff (collaboration) Landesverband Lippe, 2001 * Christel Linkerhägner: Irene Below (publisher), Christa Niestrath (publisher), Tanja Kämmer (foreword), Christel Linkerhägner (Fotografin) frauenkunstforum-owl, 2004 * Feministische Interventionen: Die Ausstellung ''Frauenalltag und Frauenbewegung 1890–1980'' in Historischen Museum Frankfurt. In Annegret Friedrich (ed.): Die Freiheit der Anderen. Festschrift for Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff. Marburg 2004, . * Kulturelle Hierarchien in der Kunst (pädagogik)? In Johannes Kirschenmann, Rainer Wenrich, Wolfgang Zacharias (ed.): Kunstpädagogisches Generationengespräch. Zukunft braucht Soziale Herkunft. Munich 2004, . * Below with Susanne Albrecht: ''Marmor, Stein und andere Stoffe''–eine gelungene Kooperation und deren Voraussetzungen. Shortcut in ''Soft Logics in der Kunstvermittlung'', Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, 2004 * Irene Below with

Beatrice von Bismarck Beatrice von Bismarck (born 1959) is a German art historian, curator, author and professor for art history and ''Bildwissenschaft''. Life Bismarck studied art history in Freiburg, Munich, London and Berlin. From 1989 to 1993, she worked at the ...

: ''Globalisierung /Hierarchisierung: Kulturelle Dominanzen in Kunst und Kunstgeschichte'', 2004, *

Globalization Globalization, or globalisation (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is the process of interaction and integration among people, companies, and governments worldwide. The term ''globalization'' first appeared in the early 20t ...

Hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...

. Irene Below (writer), Beatrice von Bismarck (writer). Jonas Verlag, 2004 * With Ayşe and Ariane im

Hamam A hammam ( ar, حمّام, translit=ḥammām, tr, hamam) or Turkish bath is a type of steam bath or a place of public bathing associated with the Islamic world. It is a prominent feature in the culture of the Muslim world and was inherited f ...

– Zeitgenössische Kunst und interkulturelles Lernen in der Kunstpädagogik. In: Welt-Kunst-Pädagogik. Kunstvermittlung zwischen westlichen Kunst-Konzepten und globalen Fragestellungen. Loccumer Protokolle, Loccum 2005 * Gegen die Norm. Susanne Lüftners künstlerische Strategien. In Susanne Lüftner. Werkschau 1978–2004, Dortmund 2005, . * Below with Melanie Blank: Helene Homilius (* 1910)–eine fast vergessene Künstlerin aus Hörste/Halle i. Westf. In: Heimat-Jahrbuch Kreis Gütersloh, Gütersloh 2005, . * Susanne Lüftner: Werkschau 1973–2004 Silvia Liebig (designer), Michael Odenwaller (Designer), Susanne Lüftner (illustrator), Evan von der Dunk (translator), Irene Below (writer), Gabriele Oberreuter (writer). Kunst-Praxis Soest, 2005 * ''Jene widersinnige Leichtigkeit der Innovation'' Hanna Deinhard's Wissenschaftskritik, Kunstsoziologie und Kunstvermittlung. In Ursula Hudson–Wiedenmann,

Beate Schmeichel-Falkenberg Beate Schmeichel-Falkenberg, real name Beate Hartung (20 June 1926 – 17 September 2017) was a German teacher and author. Life Born in Hamm, Schmeichel-Falkenberg studied German and English at the University of Göttingen and then worked as a ...

(ed.): Grenzen Überschreiten. Frauen, Kunst und Exil, Würzburg 2005. . And in ''kunststoff–Zeitschrift für Kunst und Wissenschaft'' 3/2005 * Zwischen den Kulturen. ''Umgababa'' – Irma Sterns erstes Reisebuch. In Theresa Georgen, Carola Muysers: Bühnen des Selbst. Zur Autobiographie in den Künsten des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts. Reihe Gestalt und Diskurs, in Kiel 2006, . * Lucy von Jacobi – Journalistin. Konzeption und Redaktion: Rolf Aurich, Wolfgang Jacobsen, Irene Below, Ruth Oelze. Film & Schrift, vol. 9, edition text & kritik, Munich 2009. * Below: Behinderte Karrieren im Umbruch der Zeit:

Benita Koch-Otte Benita Koch-Otte (23 May 189226 April 1976), born Benita Otte, was a German weaver and textile designer who trained at the Bauhaus. Life and work Benita Otte was born on 23 May 1892 in Stuttgart, Germany. Otte's father was a chemist. After atte ...

(1892–1976). In Inge Hansen-Schaberg, Wolfgang Thöner and Adriane Feustel (ed.): ''Entfernt: Frauen des Bauhauses während der NS-Zeit–Verfolgung und Exil''. edition text + kritik, Automn 2012 * Friedrich Meschede, Jutta Huelsewig-Johnen, with texts among others by Irene Below: 'To open eyes: Kunst und Textil vom Bauhaus bis heute', 2013, Kerberverla
To Open Eyes
retrieved 19 November 2020 * Below,

Inge Hansen-Schaberg Inge Hansen-Schaberg (born 11 March 1954) is a German educational researcher. Life Born in Flensburg, Hansen-Schaberg studied German and biology at the from 1974 and passed the state examinations in 1980 and 1983. She then worked at a West Ber ...

, Maria Kublitz-Kramer (ed.): ''Das Ende des Exils?: Briefe von Frauen nach 1945 (Frauen und Exil)'', 2014, * Below, Burcu Dogramaci (ed.): ''Kunst und Gesellschaft zwischen den Kulturen: Die Kunsthistorikerin Hanna Levy-Deinhard im Exil und ihre Aktualität heute (Frauen und Exil)'', 2016,

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Below, Irene German art historians Gender studies academics German women writers 1942 births Living people German women historians