The Life and Art of Annot
Born in Berlin, Germany, as Anna Ottilie Krigar-Menzel, the artist known as Annot was part of an academic family; her father was a professor of theoretical physics and her mother a professional singer. Her artistic journey began at the Drawing and Painting School of the Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen, later studying at the painting school of Lovis Corinth. A member of the Berlin Succession, she signed her works simply as Annot. Her stylistic approach was influenced by French Impressionism, often characterized by a loose, generous surface treatment. In the late 1920s, she produced a painting cycle portraying the faces of working women, including a surgeon, a lawyer, and a physiotherapist.
Exhibitions and Global Travels
Annot’s life was marked by significant movement and activism. After studying in Paris with André Lhote, she and her husband, the painter Rudolf Jacobi, opened the Malschule Annot in Berlin. Following the rise of the Nazi regime, which designated her paintings as "degenerate," she emigrated to the United States. In New York, she opened the Annot Art School and Gallery at Rockefeller Center. Her work was exhibited at the Marie Sterner Gallery in New York and the Katharine Kuh Gallery in Chicago. Later, she lived in Puerto Rico before returning to Germany, where she died in Munich.
