Pink Dorado Cabaret Berlin Printmaking By Jerry Di Falco

Year:

Medium:

Etching Print

Size - (USA):

14 W x 11 H x 0 D (inches)

Size - (metric):

35.6 W x 27.9 H x 0.0 D (centimeters)

Theme:

Dance

Edition:

Original

Artwork ID:

614213

PDF Copy:

Artwork Info Sheet (PDF)

Artwork Description:

THE PRICE OF THIS ETCHING INCLUDES A SILVER PAINTED WOOD FRAME WITH GLASS AND ACID FREE MAT. THE FRAME MEASURES 11 INCHES HIGH BY 14 INCHES WIDE. THE WHITE MAT CONTAINS A SILVER METALLIC INNER TRIMMED EDGE. THE ARTWORK ARRIVES WIRED AND READY TO HANG ON YOUR WALL, AND A WALL HOOK AND NAIL ARE INCLUDED. This work is the SECOND etching in Di Falco’s CABARET series entitled, “Tears for Berlin”. It is the SECOND Edition of FOUR, and each edition has only five hand printed etchings. A photo from the German photographic archive, Das BUNDESARCHIV, inspired this multiple plate etching, which is executed on four individual zinc metal rectangles that are placed on the BRAND printing press bed in a pattern of two plates above two simultaneouslythis creates a single image with a separating cross shaped space, thereby bestowing the work with a “window” effect. Each zinc plate measures 3 inches high by 4 inches wide, and the overall image is 6.5 inches high by 8.5 inches wide. The print paper measures 11 inches high by 15 inches wide. This print from the SECOND EDITION was hand printed by the artist at The Center for Works on Paper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. The artist used a black STONEHENGE paper, now made in the US, and oil-Based inks from Paris, France. Five colors were employed, including silver metallic and bright white, in this artist created color blend, which resembles a glittery rose tone. Oil of Spike Lavender was added to thin the ink’s heavy density. The German Cabaret movement was one of the most avant-garde art genres of the last century. It combined elements of music, absurdist theatre, performance art, and political satire. Many feel it also popularized the gay and lesbian bar scene of today. The El Dorado Cabaret had a long and complicated history. It opened on March 22, 1922 by entrepreneur, Ludwig Konjetschni, who publicized it as a “Meeting Place For The International World”, directly targeting homosexual community by advertising in gay and lesbian publications. In 1927 El Dorado moved to the central entertainment district in Schöneberg at Lutherstrasse 30, directly opposite the famous Scala Variety Theatre. Konjetschni moved his cabaret to larger premises and found the Grand Cafe Luitpold on Motzstrasse, opening the brand new Eldorado early in 1931. Marlene Dietrich, Claire Waldoff and the Weintraub Syncopators performed there, and it was an accepted venue for transvestites and transexuals. In July 1932, the right-wing and fascist Chief of Police, Kurt Melcher, began implementing strict catholic policies of the new Von Papen government and proclaimed, “an extensive campaign against Berlin’s depraved nightlife”. Consequently, this Nazi ordered a ban on same sex couples dancing in public in October of 1932. Ludwig Konjetschni closed the Eldorado and handed the premises over to the local national socialists, the Sturmabteilung SA, ironically many of who had worked for him. The SA turned the Eldorado into their new local headquarters, and it became a center for the Nazi movement. With this sad episode, one of Europe’s most colorful art scenes collapsed and faded into the veils of a blood-drenched history against free thought and homosexuality. The Eldorado Cabaret played a key role in “I Am A Camera’”, the 1955 film adaptation of Christopher Isherwood’s ‘Goodbye To Berlin’.

Artwork Keywords:   Original Printmaking

Materials:   Etching Prints