Foto: Stefan Moses ’Tilla Durieux', 1975
Foto: Stefan Moses ’Tilla Durieux', 1975
Eugen Spiro, Dame mit Hund (Tilla Durieux), 1905
Foto: Stefan Moses ’Tilla Durieux', 1975
Eugen Spiro, Dame mit Hund (Tilla Durieux), 1905
Foto: Stefan Moses ’Tilla Durieux', 1975
Foto: Stefan Moses ’Tilla Durieux', 1975

Tilla Durieux: A Witness to a Century and Her Roles

She was a celebrated theater and film star, political activist, artistic visionary and probably one of the most portrayed women of her time. The roles of Tilla Durieux (1880-1971) were as diverse as the list of artists she modeled for and inspired: Max Slevogt, Lovis Corinth, Frieda Riess, Franz von Stuck, Ernst Barlach, August Gaul, Emil Orlik, Oskar Kokoschka, Auguste Renoir, Lotte Jacobi. To this day, the fascination for this extraordinary artist has not diminished. The Georg Kolbe Museum is now dedicating a comprehensive exhibition to this multifaceted personality and her eventful life in 2023.

Born in Vienna, Ottilie Helene Angela Godeffroy wanted to be on stage since her childhood and changed her name to Tilla Durieux for this purpose, following her grandmother's birth name. After training as an actress in her hometown, Durieux made it to the stage of the artistic director Max Reinhardt in Berlin in 1903, via stations in Olmütz and Breslau. After a few smaller roles, her breakthrough came with the part of Salomé in Oscar Wilde's play of the same name - and the myth of Tilla Durieux was born. Engagements in all of Europe's major theaters and new, challenging roles followed - not only on stage, but also in front of the camera. Tilla Durieux was socially and politically committed throughout her life. In 1933 she fled to Croatia via Switzerland and it was not until 1952 that she returned to Berlin and continued her career as an actress on stage as well as in film. She died in 1971 at the age of 90.

The exhibition at the Georg Kolbe Museum will use numerous works of art by important artists and documents from Tilla Durieux's estate - parts of which are housed at the Georg Kolbe Museum - to bring to life a panorama of this brilliant life as well as the cultural and theatrical history of the 20th century.

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