GLR November-December 2023

Gertrude Sandmann. Sleeping Woman , ca. 1942–45.

had serious health problems caused by the conditions of her life in hiding. A small financial compensation for the injustices she had suffered during the Nazi period secured a modest existence for her. With the help of her partner, Sandmann soon found an apartment and studio in the Schöneberg district, where she lived until her death in 1981. Shortly after the war, she started drawing again. Although she participated in several postwar exhibitions—in 1949, 1958, and 1968—only in 1974 did she receive significant acclaim at a solo exhibition in Düsseldorf, which included 45 of her later works. In 1968, over seventy of her drawings were displayed in a group ex hibition. Sandmann avidly followed the 1970s women’s move ment in Germany, and she supported the women’s art gallery Andere Zeichen (“Different Signs”) in West Berlin. In Novem ber 1974, at 81 years old, she helped found Group L74, the first postwar organization for elderly lesbians in Berlin. Sandmann also worked on the magazine published by the group, UKZ ( Un sere Kleine Zeitung , “Our Little Newspaper”). For years, her drawing Lovers graced the cover page of UKZ . Having overcome my lifelong resistance to visiting Berlin, I enjoyed the city and the Pride march and the nightlife that Berlin is famous for. I also learned the life story and saw the surviving works of a gifted lesbian artist. Gertrude Sandmann combined artistry with passion, humanity, and grit. Her Berlin is the one that I will always remember.

November–December 2023

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