Personal project
Sylvia von Harden was a German journalist and poet who lived in Berlin during the 1920s.
She was famously portrayed in Otto Dix’s painting entitled “Bildnis der Journalistin Sylvia von Harden” (Portrait of the Journalist Sylvia von Harden, 1926). In Dix’s painting, she represents the image of the “neue Frau” (New Woman), depicting her with bobbed hair and monocle, seated at a cafe table with a cigarette in her hand and a cocktail in front of her. In 1972, Bob Fosse would reprise that painting in the opening scene of his famous “Cabaret”.
This painting is my version of her, somehow influenced by Otto Dix and from a different environment, as in Saunder’s photography from 1931 she represents a secretary at West German Radio in Cologne.
Of course, I gave it my personal different view.
I wanted to represent both, the androgyny and the arrogance. She makes her own rules, breathes self-confidence and has an amazing style. When choosing that photo as a reference, these details and that character were the key to me.
Acrylic painting on paper (50 x 70 cm).
Click on the images to enlarge
Monic Colias 