The Cleveland Museum of Art
Collection Online as of December 21, 2025
Ella Bergmann-Michel
1950
(American, 1899–1998)
Image: 22.8 x 16.1 cm (9 x 6 5/16 in.); Mounted: 43.5 x 35.9 cm (17 1/8 x 14 1/8 in.); Paper: 22.8 x 16.1 cm (9 x 6 5/16 in.)
Gift of George Stephanopoulos 2012.397
© Estate of Ilse Bing
Location: Not on view
Description
Shortly after Ilse Bing decided to become a photographer, she met artist, photographer, and filmmaker Ella Bergmann-Michel (1896–1971). When this portrait was made, they had been friends for two decades. An important role model for women artists in post–World War I Germany, Bergmann-Michel shared with Bing an aesthetic approach: creating abstractions that were rooted in reality. As Bing explained, their work stood out from other nonrepresentational artists because it was “based on ongoing life in even the most abstract pictures.”- Ilse Bing: Queen of the Leica. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-October 11, 2020).
- {{cite web|title=Ella Bergmann-Michel|url=false|author=Ilse Bing|year=1950|access-date=21 December 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}
Source URL:
https://www.clevelandart.org/art/2012.397