Lotte Laserstein: The Painter Who Froze a Lost World in Oil

In a quiet studio in 1920s Berlin, under soft northern light streaming through tall windows, a young woman painted. Her brushes moved with careful resolve. Her models are not idealized goddesses or grand figures but tired students, tomboyish athletes, and women lost in thought. Their eyes met hers, and she met them with full attention, as if she were trying to paint not just what they looked like, but what they felt like.

Her name was Lotte Laserstein, and for decades, history forgot her.

A Brush in the Shadows of Berlin

Lotte Laserstein was born in 1898 in what is now Poland, then known as East Prussia. From an early age, she faced the profound loss of her father, leaving her to navigate the complexities of childhood without his guiding presence. Amidst this tumult, her mother, a talented pianist, emerged as a beacon of strength and inspiration. She fostered Lotte’s burgeoning interest in art with unwavering support and encouragement, instilling in her a deep appreciation for creativity.

Lotte possessed a remarkable artistic gift, one that set her apart even in an era when women were often discouraged from pursuing serious artistic training. Driven by an unyielding passion and determination, she achieved a significant milestone in 1921 when she enrolled in the prestigious Berlin Academy of Fine Arts. As one of the very first women to gain admission, she broke barriers, defiantly stepping into a male-dominated world and boldly asserting her place in the art community. Her journey was not just about personal ambition; it symbolized a progressive shift in societal norms, paving the way for future generations of women artists.

Her training was steeped in classical techniques, but her vision was utterly modern. In the cafés and classrooms of Weimar Berlin, she found her subjects: thoughtful, vulnerable, full of searching. She painted her closest friends, often women, with an honesty that feels almost cinematic today. The result was an aesthetic that merged the Renaissance’s clarity with the 20th century’s psychological sharpness.

The Quiet Thunder of “Abend über Potsdam”

In her profound 1930 creation, “Abend über Potsdam” (Evening Over Potsdam), artist Laserstain captures a poignant moment frozen in time. The large, horizontal canvas unfolds with six figures gathered around a stark, unadorned table, set against an expansive sky awash in the dusky hues of dusty blue and soft peach. While the table holds an arrangement of food, it remains untouched, suggesting an unspoken tension that lingers in the air.

The figures bear expressions that speak volumes—each face reflects a mix of contemplation and unease, as if they are acutely aware of the shifting tides of their world. There’s a palpable silence between them, filled with unvoiced conversations and shared glances that convey a sense of impending change.

This painting is a meditation on the fragile pause before transformation, where the vibrant freedom of the Weimar era hangs in the balance, tinged with the melancholy of youth poised at the brink of uncertainty. The moment is heavy with the weight of what is about to be lost, evoking a bittersweet nostalgia for a fleeting time.

“Abend über Potsdam” (Evening Over Potsdam) is a large, horizontal canvas featuring six figures seated around a bare table, with the vast sky behind them painted in dusk tones of dusty blue and peach. There is food, but no one eats. There is conversation, but no sound.

It’s a painting heavy with pause, with that fragile moment before the world changes forever. Laserstein, like many artists of her generation, sensed that the freedom of the Weimar era was slipping away. In the faces of her friends, we see it too: the melancholy of youth in an age that’s about to implode.

“This isn’t just a painting,” one curator said. “It’s a mood. A time capsule of anxiety disguised as calm.”

Laserstein’s works are full of this tension: between strength and softness, future and past, visibility and erasure.

Women Looking Back

Traute Rose is a striking figure, both in her physicality and her presence. With her statuesque stature and short hair, she commands the space around her, radiating confidence and strength. Laserstein’s repeated depictions of her—whether she is riding a bicycle, engaged in a spirited game of tennis, or simply lounging in the studio capture not just her appearance but her dynamic spirit.

What sets these portraits apart is Traute’s active role as a subject. She is not merely posed for the viewer’s gaze; rather, she engages with the observer, looking back with an intensity that invites interpretation. In each image, her expression tells a story of agency and self-determination. Instead of being reduced to an object of beauty, Traute embodies a narrative rich with her own experiences and emotions. These portraits challenge traditional representations of women, celebrating their strength and complexity instead.

Take “Tennis Player” (1929): Traute stands poised in mid-movement, her strong arms tanned and her stare resolute. It’s a revolutionary image of femininity. Not dainty, not demure — determined. (See image below.)

Or “Self-Portrait with a Cat” (1928) — where Laserstein depicts herself not as an aloof artist, but as a quiet, watchful presence, a tabby cat curled in her lap, both creatures aware of the moment. (See image below.)

Forced to Flee

Laserstein’s rise was dramatic, but short-lived. By the mid-1930s, Germany was no longer a safe place for a woman of Jewish descent. Despite her accolades and growing reputation, she was classified as “Three-Quarter Jewish” under Nazi racial laws. She could no longer exhibit, teach, or even move freely.

In 1937, she managed to escape to Sweden under the pretense of an exhibition in Stockholm. She never returned. Her mother and sister were trapped in Germany. Both would die in the Holocaust, a grief that never left her.

In Sweden, she survived by painting hundreds of commissioned portraits. Bishops, doctors, professors. But the spark dimmed. The psychological intensity of her Berlin years gave way to safer compositions and more conventional settings. She became respected, but not known. In exile, she was safe. But obscured.

Rediscovery

For most of the 20th century, Lotte Laserstein was a whisper. An entry in forgotten catalogues. A footnote in exile studies. Then, slowly, the silence began to lift. In the 1980s, German historians rediscovered her early work. In 2003, a large portion of her oeuvre was returned from Sweden to Germany.

But it was the 2018–2019 exhibition at the London-based Ben Uri Gallery and the Städel Museum in Frankfurt that finally cemented her return to art history’s main stage. Audiences were stunned by the freshness of her portraits how contemporary they felt. How relevant.

One reviewer wrote:

“Laserstein’s portraits are like slow-burning novels. The more you look, the more they speak.”

Famous Works (with links and current locations):

• “Abend über Potsdam” (1930)
  Stadtmuseum Berlin
  Her quiet masterpiece of post-war dread and intimate friendship.

• “Tennis Player” (1929)
  Nationalgalerie, Berlin
  An androgynous symbol of athletic, modern femininity.

• “Russian Girl with Compact” (1928–30)
  Göteborgs konstmuseum
  A mirror, a compact, and a moment of self-examination.

• “Self-Portrait with a Cat” (1928)
  Berlinische Galerie
  Quiet resistance and emotional intelligence, in one soft gaze.

• “Traute in front of the Mirror” (1930)
  Private Collection (shown in recent retrospectives)
  A woman who won’t be reduced to her reflection.

Why Her Work Still Stings — and Sings

Lotte Laserstein didn’t just paint people; she captured presence. Her sitters exist not in decorative poses, but in thought, in feeling, in time. Her work evokes the power of observation, holding moments still long enough for us to truly see.

She portrayed the last breaths of a free Germany before fascism’s grip tightened, not through loud protest, but with stillness, intimacy, and human dignity. In a world that often overlooks women, exiles, and outsiders, her rediscovery embodies a sense of justice, that of a free Germany. And a world that often forgets women, exiles, and outsiders, her rediscovery feels almost like justice.

Coming Next: Undaunted Anna Dorothea Therbusch.