Stephanie Hollenstein was a talented painter whose role in the Nazi regime overshadows her work. This biography paints a nuanced picture of a lesbian woman who strived for recognition – as a person and in her art. She fought for this, disguised as a man, in the First World War and for equal rights in the art scene, before finally making a career for herself under National Socialism.
In her novel “Die Suche nach der eigenen Farbe – Das widersprüchliche Leben der Malerin Stephanie Hollenstein”, Brigitte Herrmann shows the contradictions of a life – between success, love and responsibility, art and politics. Stephanie Hollenstein is also one of the protagonists of the exhibition “Hosenrolle? Women in portrait 1809-1918“. A combination of reading and exhibition could hardly be more fitting.