FMS505.B_Campbell.GoodbyetoBerlin: Anita Berber

German dancer, Anita Berber, was famous for breaking boundaries with her outrageous performances. She shocked her audiences with her nude performances which displayed her love for drugs, her lust for sex and openly displayed her bisexuality. She often sported a short, red bob, wore her lipstick in a sharp cupid's-bow and wore very little clothing. She has been described as the "Countess of sin" - Mel Gordon, Feral House (2006), The Seven Addictions and Five Professions of Anita Berber: Weimar Berlin's Priestess of Depravity.

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://cinevedette5.unblog.fr/748-anita-berber/

I found a particular quote which I felt summed up perfectly my idea of Anita Berber, and translates just how extreme she was as a human being:

“Anita Berber (1899-1928) was immensely famous in 1920s Berlin - for reasons not acknowledged in polite society. She danced (nude) in nightclubs, seduced a wide swath of the the population (both male and female), appeared (also frequently nude) in soft porn silent films, drank (on the average) one bottle of cognac per day, married three times, was addicted to cocaine and opium, was never seen in public without heavy make-up, talked incessantly, lied like a rug and, predictably, died at an early age.“

Shelley Esaak, viewed 15.10.14, Special Exhibition Gallery - Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s. Available at: http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/glitterdoom/gad_07.htm

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://cinevedette5.unblog.fr/748-anita-berber/

Her performances were unusually named "Suicide", "Morphium" and "Mad House". It's uncertain as to why they were named with such extreme names. These performances were created with her husband of the time, Sebastian Droste, who she married in 1922.

Viewed 17.10.14 [online image] Available at: http://www.europeana.eu/portal/record/92060/A00C0886A9230283BF8FED60E8B6EF5BDA703DB2.html

Otto Dix famously painted her in 1925, The Dancer Anita Berber. Dix was never a big fan of the colour red in his paintings, but used red as his primary colour. The colour depicts her firery personality and the painting is insultingly powered with sexual energy. The background appears as if it is luring you to hell with with the colours ressembling fire. Even though Berber is clothed in this painting, her body position, including the positioning of her hands, are very suggestive. Her clothing is tight to certain areas of her body which creates the illusion of her naked body. The red heavily contrasts with the paleness of her skin, and matched the red in her hair and on her lips. This painting was created only three years before her death.

Shelley Esaak, viewed 15.10.14, Special Exhibition Gallery - Glitter and Doom: German Portraits from the 1920s [online image] Available at: http://arthistory.about.com/od/from_exhibitions/ig/glitterdoom/gad_07.htm

Amy Winehouse, the contemporary Anita Berber, shown below at her lowest weight due to drug abuse. Amy was an incredible performer, but her life was taken at a similarly young age due to the stress and abuse of drugs and alcohol. Here you can see the effects this rock and roll lifestyle Amy led; he frail physique, greyish skin and a look of worry on her face.