Born: 4 October 1898, Croatia
Died: 3 May 1944
Country most active: Germany
Also known as: Otilija Ester Berger
The following is excerpted from Infinite Women creator Allison Tyra’s book Uncredited: Women’s Overlooked, Misattributed, and Stolen Work.
At the German art school Bauhaus, women like Anni Albers and Otti Berger were shunted into the textile department, prevented from studying other disciplines. Initially sceptical, Albers grew to love the medium, saying “In my case it was threads that caught me, really against my will. To work with threads seemed sissy to me. I wanted something to be conquered. But circumstances held me to threads and they won me over.” Berger, meanwhile, became one of the few Bauhaus artists to have her designs patented. Although segregated, artists like Albers and Berger changed the way textiles are viewed as an artistic medium.