Elisabeth StoffersNiederlande, 1881–1971

Untitled

c. 1915–18 · Drawing

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Minneapolis Institute of Art

Minneapolis, Vereinigte Staaten

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Geprüft: vor 10 Tagen
Unverändert seit: 25. Sept. 2026
Quelle: Das Museum

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Über das Werk

Elisabeth Stoffers was one of the very few women artists to produce abstract art before 1920. Sidelined in art school for being a woman and told by her husband to spend less time on art and more time mothering their children, her short-lived art career seemed to be over by 1914. Sixty-six years later, her family unexpectedly discovered that she had left behind an unknown body of work: 32 strikingly modern abstract pastels dated from 1915-1918.

It seems that in her work, she deeply engaged with the writings of British theosophist Annie Bessant, particularly Thought-Forms: A Record of Clairvoyant Investigation, co-authored with Charles W. Leadbeater. Published in 1905, this book which had profound effect on early 20th-century art. It was translated into several languages, including a Dutch edition already published in 1905. Theosophy conceives of human beings as complex energy fields rather than purely physical bodies. Thought-Forms argues that thoughts have shape and color and are formed by emotions, experience, meditations, and music. Art historically, Stoffers's exploration is pioneering, within a year or two of Mondrian's first sharp grid, Malevich's "Black Square, " Matisse's "Yellow Curtain, " etc. Had her work become public knowledge, Stoffers might now be remembered as the Dutch Georgia O'Keeffe.

Minneapolis Institute of Art