Elisabeth von Eicken: picturesque landscapes and economic independence in the 19th century

The Ahrenshoop Art Museum is located in the middle of the picturesque Fischland-Darß-Zingst peninsula chain in Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and, with Die Eicken - oder: Malen gegen männliche Vorurteile (The Eicken - or: Painting against Male Prejudice), will be showing a solo exhibition of works by Elisabeth von Eicken (1862-1940) starting on December 5 that only does justice to the local landscape. This may be due to the fact that the Mülheim-born artist owned her own studio house in Ahrenshoop from 1894, from where she focused her work on the depiction of untouched nature as well as the landscape shaped by man.  

At the same time, the small museum conveys with the alternative title of the work show Malen gegen männliche Vorurteile (Painting against Male Prejudice) the message that von Eicken challenged her male competitors of the time with her artistic talent and thus also made herself completely economically independent. The exhibition includes 50 of von Eickens' works, as well as photographs and documents from her life, and will be on view until April 24, 2022. It was curated by Schwerin historian Dr. Wolf Karge, whose research work sometimes focuses on Eickens and to which he has recently turned again.

Parallel to the show of Eickens' works, the Ahrenshoop Art Museum is presenting a solo show by one of those 19th-century male companions of Eickens: Paul Müller-Kaempff: Wolkenschatten. Der Zeichner. (Paul Müller-Kaempff: Cloud Shadows. The draftsman). It consists of 160 works as well as contemporary documents of the artist and is open until March 23, 2022.