Ellinor Michel (1939-2007), Self-portrait, 1969

Ellinor Michel (1939 Berlin - 2007 ibid.), Self-Portrait, 1969. Oil on canvas, 32 cm x 25 cm (image size), 34 cm x 27 cm (frame), signed “Ello Michel” and dated “1969” on the lower right, framed in aluminum.
- In good condition, frame rubbed in places  



- Painted poetry -


The almost pale face with large black eyes gives the countenance a fairy-tale quality, which is reinforced by the flower-like hair. The curls seem to form blossoms. A lush bouquet of flowers that extends beyond the edges of the picture and seems to have a life of its own. The virtuoso impressionistic brushwork creates a framing floral crescendo, making the face appear all the more mysterious. The impressionistic painting style underscores the image with a lyrical tone carried by the blue sky. From this pictorial world, the artist, presumably portraying herself, looks expectantly at the viewer. An impressionistic execution of fantastical realism that lends the image a magic all its own.    



About the artist

Ellinor Michel was born in Berlin-Wilmersdorf in 1939. Her father, an officer in the Wehrmacht, died in unclear circumstances in the Courland Pocket in 1945, possibly in connection with the assassination attempt of July 20, 1944. After graduating from high school in 1956, she first studied commercial art in Karlsruhe and later switched to fine art in Stuttgart. There she met the painter Manfred Henkel, whom she married in 1960; the couple had a son. In 1962, she moved back to Berlin with her family and worked there as a freelance artist. In 1964, she met Andreas Baader in the Berlin art scene, with whom she began a relationship and had a daughter. For a time, Michel, her husband, and Baader lived together in an apartment that was also a meeting place for later members of the Red Army Faction (RAF). She later had a long-term relationship with Cuban musician Víctor Cruz. She spent her twilight years in a Berlin nursing home. She died in 2007 in her hometown.