The German Series #8 - Jeanne Mammen

Working as a magazine illustrator in the years just before World War II, Jeanne Mammen (1890 - 1976) captured a world of raucous nightclubs, smoky cafés, and vibrant street life in her stylized and often critical images. 

A sharp observer of urban life, Mammen was among the first generation of female artists able to live independently, allowing her the chance to roam about 1920s and 30s Europe with a freedom only male artists had previously enjoyed. Unsurprisingly, her images often focus on other independent women, from haughty socialites and fashionable middle class shop girls to street singers and prostitutes. 

A most interesting biografy of Jeanne Mammen can be read here.