Marianne before a Mirror, 1929 – 1930

About the Work

Disturbingly direct, curvaceous, crazy - with a libidinous grin, Hubbuch's model Marianne sticks out her breasts towards the viewer without a hint of embarrassment. The nude portraits by the Karlsruhe artist Karl Hubbuch aroused strong criticism for insistently opposing the bourgeois image of woman as wife, housewife and mother. The National Socialists felt provoked by the "perverse show of flesh", which contributed to the "corruption of the people", and they dismissed Hubbuch from his post as professor at the Karlsruhe Art Academy. The painter remains one of the best-known representatives of New Objectivity.