Mammen was a major graphic artist of the Weimar period. She gained recognition in particular for her watercolors of urban subjects, such as this one of a couple seated at an outdoor table. It belongs to a group of watercolors commissioned from Mammen to illustrate Curt Moreck's "Guide to 'Immoral' Berlin," a 1931 guide to Berlin's nightlife, devoted primarily to the gay and lesbian scene. The woman in "Cafe Reimann" has the androgynous appearance of the garconne, an emancipated young woman who played an important part in the nw definition of gender roles in 1920s Germany. Her attitude--bored and blasé--contrasts with the stereotypical depictions of women as mothers, prostitutes, or mindless consumers, as they were often presented in contemporary mass media. The garconne appears frequently in Mammen's work, which chronicled the social interactions of modern urban women. Mammen's career as an illustrator ended in 1933 when the Nazis took power, and she turned to painting.
Signed at lower right, "J. Mammen".