# Irene Below

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German art historian

**Irene Below** (born 1942) is a German woman art historian.

## Life

Below studied in Munich, Cologne and Berlin. From 1964 to 1967 she was a [German Academic Exchange Service](/source/German_Academic_Exchange_Service) scholarship holder for Florence and was awarded a doctorate in 1971 with a dissertation on [Leonardo da Vinci](/source/Leonardo_da_Vinci) and [Filippino Lippi](/source/Filippino_Lippi).[1] As early as 1972, at a congress of the *Association of German Art Historians* in Constance, Below suggested that the question of women in art history should be considered and thus initiated a discussion on the [feminist](/source/Feminism) perspective in art history.[2] From 1974 to 2004, Below taught at the [Bielefeld University](/source/Bielefeld_University), since 2007 as a [lecturer](/source/Lecturer) at the University of Bielefeld in the Department of Art and Music. This is accompanied by freelance work as a curator and journalist. From 1995 until 1999, she undertook research trips to South Africa.[3] In 2000, she was a founding member of *frauenkunstforum-owl e. V.* and 1987-1994 a spokesperson for the [women's studies](/source/Women's_studies) section in art studies in the [Ulmer Verein - Verband für Kunst- und Kulturwissenschaften](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ulmer_Verein_-_Verband_f%C3%BCr_Kunst-_und_Kulturwissenschaften&action=edit&redlink=1) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulmer_Verein_-_Verband_f%C3%BCr_Kunst-_und_Kulturwissenschaften)].[4] Since 1988, she has been the initiator of the Women's Forum in the [BDK Fachverband für Kunstpädagogik](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=BDK_Fachverband_f%C3%BCr_Kunstp%C3%A4dagogik&action=edit&redlink=1) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/BDK_Fachverband_f%C3%BCr_Kunstp%C3%A4dagogik)].

In 1998, Below became involved against the name [Richard Kaselowsky](/source/Richard_Kaselowsky) for the [Kunsthalle Bielefeld](/source/Kunsthalle_Bielefeld), which is why the then director [Thomas Kellein](/source/Thomas_Kellein) turned to the school board for support against this "teacher gone wild".[5]

She was and is involved in many socio-political activities; in the 1980s she was co-founder of a self-managed day-care centre with alternative pedagogy, and in 2017 of the self-help initiative "Wir für uns-anders Altern".[6]

Below is married and has two sons. She lives in [Werther](/source/Werther_(Westf.)) near [Bielefeld](/source/Bielefeld) in [North Rhine-Westphalia](/source/North_Rhine-Westphalia).

## Main areas of work

Her work focuses on the settlement of architecture of the 1920s, [feminist art](/source/Feminist_art) and [cultural studies](/source/Cultural_studies), female artists of the 20th and 21st centuries, periphery and centre in art, the art world and science, and studies on the exile of artists and scientists.[7]

## Publications

- *Die schönen Zeiten sind vorbei. Die schönen Zeiten hat es nie gegeben. Politische Kultur von unten in einer Reforminstitution* – Irene Below (author), [Peter Fuchs](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Peter_Fuchs_(sociologist)&action=edit&redlink=1) (writer), Frankfurt, 1986 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-88704-044-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-88704-044-9)

- *Es gab nicht nur das Bauhaus*: Below (writer) [Bauhaus Dessau Foundation](/source/Bauhaus_Dessau_Foundation), 1994 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-936796-20-3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-936796-20-3)

- Gisela Wölbing/Gertrud van Dyck: Historische Museen: Schriften der Historischen Museen der Stadt Bielefeld 8. Irene Below, Jörg Boström, Jutta Hülsewieg-Johnen, Gottfried Jäger, Rosa Schumacher, Sybille Seiger. Westfalen Verlag, 1996 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-88918-088-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-88918-088-4)

- [Irma Stern](/source/Irma_Stern) and the [Expressionism](/source/Expressionism). Afrika und Europa. Irene Below (writer), Jutta Hülsewig-Johnen (writer) Christof Kerber Verlag, 1998 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-924639-73-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-924639-73-6)

- Hidden treasures, Irma Stern, Irene Below: Society of Bibliophiles in Cape Town, 2000 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-620-26727-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-620-26727-5)

- *Die Vorteile des Künstlerinnendaseins*: Susanne Albrecht (author), Irene Below (author), Angela Kahre (author) *Interdisziplinäres Zentrum für Frauen- und Geschlechterforschung* (IFF), 2001 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-932869-10-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-932869-10-9)

- eins und doppelt: Irene Below (foreword), Joachim Bünemann (foreword), Stefanie Lux-Althoff (collaboration) Landesverband Lippe, 2001 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-9807375-2-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-9807375-2-7)

- Christel Linkerhägner: Irene Below (publisher), Christa Niestrath (publisher), Tanja Kämmer (foreword), Christel Linkerhägner (Fotografin) frauenkunstforum-owl, 2004 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-9809866-0-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-9809866-0-8)

- Feministische Interventionen: Die Ausstellung *Frauenalltag und Frauenbewegung 1890–1980* in Historischen Museum Frankfurt. In Annegret Friedrich (ed.): Die Freiheit der Anderen. Festschrift for [Viktoria Schmidt-Linsenhoff](/source/Viktoria_Schmidt-Linsenhoff). Marburg 2004, pp. 67–81.

- Kulturelle Hierarchien in der Kunst (pädagogik)? In Johannes Kirschenmann, Rainer Wenrich, Wolfgang Zacharias (ed.): Kunstpädagogisches Generationengespräch. Zukunft braucht Soziale Herkunft. Munich 2004, pp. 290–293.

- Below with Susanne Albrecht: *Marmor, Stein und andere Stoffe*–eine gelungene Kooperation und deren Voraussetzungen. Shortcut in *Soft Logics in der Kunstvermittlung*, Künstlerhaus Stuttgart, 2004

- Irene Below with [Beatrice von Bismarck](/source/Beatrice_von_Bismarck): *Globalisierung /Hierarchisierung: Kulturelle Dominanzen in Kunst und Kunstgeschichte*, 2004, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-89445-339-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-89445-339-8)

- [Globalization](/source/Globalization)/[Hierarchy](/source/Hierarchy). Irene Below (writer), Beatrice von Bismarck (writer). Jonas Verlag, 2004 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-89445-339-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-89445-339-7)

- With Ayşe and Ariane im [Hamam](/source/Turkish_bath) – Zeitgenössische Kunst und interkulturelles Lernen in der Kunstpädagogik. In: Welt-Kunst-Pädagogik. Kunstvermittlung zwischen westlichen Kunst-Konzepten und globalen Fragestellungen. Loccumer Protokolle, Loccum 2005

- Gegen die Norm. Susanne Lüftners künstlerische Strategien. In Susanne Lüftner. Werkschau 1978–2004, Dortmund 2005, pp. 2–11.

- Below with Melanie Blank: Helene Homilius (* 1910)–eine fast vergessene Künstlerin aus Hörste/Halle i. Westf. In: Heimat-Jahrbuch Kreis Gütersloh, Gütersloh 2005, pp. 169–173.

- Susanne Lüftner: Werkschau 1973–2004 Silvia Liebig (designer), Michael Odenwaller (Designer), Susanne Lüftner (illustrator), Evan von der Dunk (translator), Irene Below (writer), Gabriele Oberreuter (writer). Kunst-Praxis Soest, 2005 [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [3-00-017262-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/3-00-017262-9)

- *Jene widersinnige Leichtigkeit der Innovation* [Hanna Deinhard](/source/Hanna_Deinhard)'s Wissenschaftskritik, Kunstsoziologie und Kunstvermittlung. In Ursula Hudson–Wiedenmann, [Beate Schmeichel-Falkenberg](/source/Beate_Schmeichel-Falkenberg) (ed.): Grenzen Überschreiten. Frauen, Kunst und Exil, Würzburg 2005. pp. 151–179. And in *kunststoff–Zeitschrift für Kunst und Wissenschaft* 3/2005

- Zwischen den Kulturen. *Umgababa* – Irma Sterns erstes Reisebuch. In [Theresa Georgen](/source/Theresa_Georgen), Carola Muysers: Bühnen des Selbst. Zur Autobiographie in den Künsten des 20. und 21. Jahrhunderts. Reihe Gestalt und Diskurs, [Muthesius Kunsthochschule](/source/Muthesius_Kunsthochschule) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muthesius_Kunsthochschule)] in Kiel 2006, pp. 221–244.

- Lucy von Jacobi – Journalistin. Konzeption und Redaktion: Rolf Aurich, Wolfgang Jacobsen, Irene Below, Ruth Oelze. Film & Schrift, vol. 9, edition text & kritik, Munich 2009. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-86916-003-0](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-86916-003-0)

- Below: Behinderte Karrieren im Umbruch der Zeit: [Benita Koch-Otte](/source/Benita_Koch-Otte) (1892–1976). In Inge Hansen-Schaberg, Wolfgang Thöner and Adriane Feustel (ed.): *Entfernt: Frauen des Bauhauses während der NS-Zeit–Verfolgung und Exil*. edition text + kritik, Automn 2012

- Friedrich Meschede, Jutta Huelsewig-Johnen, with texts among others by Irene Below: 'To open eyes: Kunst und Textil vom Bauhaus bis heute', 2013, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-86678-919-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-86678-919-7)[8]

- Below, [Inge Hansen-Schaberg](/source/Inge_Hansen-Schaberg), [Maria Kublitz-Kramer](/source/Maria_Kublitz-Kramer) (ed.): *Das Ende des Exils?: Briefe von Frauen nach 1945 (Frauen und Exil)*, 2014, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-86916-373-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-86916-373-4)

- Below, Burcu Dogramaci (ed.): *Kunst und Gesellschaft zwischen den Kulturen: Die Kunsthistorikerin [Hanna Levy-Deinhard](/source/Hanna_Deinhard) im Exil und ihre Aktualität heute (Frauen und Exil)*, 2016, [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-3-86916-491-5](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-3-86916-491-5)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Art History Institute of Florence: [Irene Below: Florence 1935-1938](https://web.archive.org/web/20141102063439/http://www.khi.fi.it/it/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungen/veranstaltung153/index.html)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [Kathrin Hoffmann-Curtius](/source/Kathrin_Hoffmann-Curtius): Feministische Kunstgeschichte heute: Rück- und Vorschläge. In *[Critical Reports](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Critical_Reports&action=edit&redlink=1) [[de](https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_Reports)]* 2, 1999, p. 26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Quoted after Irene Below: *When art breaks out of its elitist white ghetto ... (Liz Crossley)* ["An other 1995" in Trier](http://www.liz-crossley.de/texts/texts/Below_another_ger.pdf) (PDF file; 170-kB), retrieved 19 November 2020

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Quoted after Ralph Findeisen: Unbewusster Neokolonialismus [artnet 2006](http://www.artnet.de/magazine/irene-below-beatrice-von-bismarck-hg-globalisierunghierarchisierung/), retrieved 19 November 2020

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Aufbruch in Bielefeld - Linksruck](http://www.der-bielefelder.de/schwerpunkt.html?menid=1737), Der Bielefelder

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** Westfalen-Blatt, 23 September 2019 [Anders altern](https://m.westfalen-blatt.de/OWL/Kreis-Guetersloh/Werther/2993668-Wir-fuer-uns-Senioren-in-Werther-knuepfen-ein-Netzwerk-fuer-alle-Lebenslagen-Anders-altern), retrieved 19 November 2020

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Mentioned after Irene Below: Lucy von Jakobi [Webarchiv Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florenz](https://web.archive.org/web/20141102063439/http://www.khi.fi.it/it/aktuelles/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungen/veranstaltung153/index.html), retrieved 19 November 2020

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Kerberverlag [To Open Eyes](https://www.kerberverlag.com/de/1062/to-open-eyes), retrieved 19 November 2020

## External links

- [Literature by and about Irene Below](https://portal.dnb.de/opac.htm?method=simpleSearch&cqlMode=true&query=idn%3D124508103) in the [German National Library](/source/German_National_Library) catalogue

- [Official website](http://www.irenebelow.de/)

[Portals](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Contents/Portals):
- [History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:History)
- [Germany](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Germany)

Authority control databases International ISNI VIAF GND WorldCat National United States France BnF data Netherlands Israel Croatia People Deutsche Biographie DDB Other IdRef Yale LUX

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Irene Below](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Below) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irene_Below?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.