The photograph shows Mary Wigman performing 'Tanz in den Tod' from her solo dance series 'Opfer' which premiered in Dresden on 1 November 1931. Albert Renger-Patzsch and Mary Wigman had met in the late 1920s in Essen at the Museum Folkwang, where dance evenings were held by and with the dancer. The dance photographs taken here and during the photographer's later visits to Dresden hold a special position in the oeuvre of Albert Renger Patzsch who was predominantly seen as the photographer of things (Otto Steinert). Unlike his New Objective landscape, architecture and object shots, the present portrait study exhibits expressive qualities through the mannered gesture and facial expression of the subject, which correspond to the artistic ideas of the expressionist dancer Mary Wigman.
We would like to thank Jürgen Wilde, Zülpich, and Garnet Schuldt Hiddemann, Deutsches Tanzarchiv Köln / SK Stiftung Kultur, for the helpful information.
