Selbstbildnis mit Katze Ninn

Painted in 1928, Hannah Höch’s Selbstbildnis mit Katze Ninn is one of a small group of self-portraits created by the artist during the final years of the 1920s, each of which reflect her inner state of mind as she sought to define her identity during a period of intense self-questioning and reflection. At the time the painting was begun, Höch had been living in the Netherlands for almost two years, having abandoned her life in Berlin in order to be with her lover Til (Mathilde) Brugman, an acclaimed poet and writer involved with the De Stijl group. This lesbian relationship was a first for Höch, but one which she believed offered her access to new depths of emotion and feeling. After the whirlwind, intense nature of the beginning of their relationship, Höch and Brugman settled into a content life together in The Hague, living in an apartment designed by the De Stijl architect Vilmos Hulzár, with furniture by Gerrit Rietveld. During this period, Höch actively pursued gallery exhibitions and sales in the Netherlands, showing watercolours, paintings and photomontages in several important exhibitions, as she sought to increase her public profile in her new home. By 1928, these major developments in both her personal and professional life had driven Höch to turn her gaze inwards, as she sought to examine and redefine her identity through her paintings.