Maria Innocentia Hummel

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Sister Maria Innocentia Hummel

Maria Innocentia Hummel OSF (born May 21, 1909 in Massing , Lower Bavaria, as Berta Hummel ; † November 6, 1946 in Sießen Monastery ) was a German Franciscan , draftsman and painter. She became famous around the world for her pictures of children and the ceramic Hummel figures made from her designs .

life and work

Berta Hummel grew up as the third of seven children of a merchant in Massing an der Rott and first attended the Massinger elementary school from 1915 to 1921. From 1921 to 1926 she attended the Catholic high school for girls "Marienhöhe" run by the English Misses in Simbach am Inn , where she received intensive art lessons. She completed her four-year studies at the State School for Applied Arts in Munich in 1931, top of the class, with the teaching examination for drawing teachers. During his studies, portraits, caricatures, cityscapes, floral worlds, still lifes and self-portraits were created in an expressionist style.

The treatise The Little Secret by Fr. Cassian Karg deepened Hummel's spiritual practice very much; she practiced this contemplative form of prayer for everyday life, a German variant of the heart prayer , so that she found her religious vocation through it.

After completing her studies, in 1931 she entered the convent of the Franciscan Sisters of Sießen in Upper Swabia, which she had met through two Franciscan Sisters who were studying with her in Munich. With the clothing she took on August 22, 1933 the religious name Maria Innocentia ; on August 30, 1934 she made her profession . Since 1931 she worked as a drawing teacher in a Catholic school in the nearby Saulgau, which the monastery looked after; from 1931 she was also the artistic director of the monastery's own parament production .

Degenerate art

Typical drawing by Hummels

In addition to her professional duties, Hummel also found time to capture her favorite motif in drawings: children playing and in other lovingly depicted, often humorous everyday situations. The first exhibitions and first book publications in Catholic publishing houses were very successful. Hummel's artistic career fell in the time of National Socialism , in which an idealized heroic image of man was propagated by blond, blue-eyed Germans and deviating views were defamed as " degenerate art ". Hummel's portraits of small, cute, plump, cute children, who often appear rather sweet and kitschy , were therefore vehemently criticized by the National Socialist art critics and referred to as "water-headed gnomes and club-footed bastards". The criticism in Catholic publications was somewhat more benevolent and criticized rather the “childish” and a certain shadowiness and routine. However, Hummel was always very successful with the general public.

In addition to the children's pictures, Hummel also created Christian iconography in all formats, including an altarpiece in Massing, a Pietà in Tuttlingen , a picture of St. Konrad von Parzham in the parish church of the Assumption in Bad Kötzting as well as altarpieces in Tuttlingen and Rathsmannsdorf . Landscape paintings and an unfinished, expressionist Way of the Cross in the Sießen monastery have also been preserved.

World War II, sickness and death

During the Second World War , the nuns were expelled from the Sießen monastery in 1940 to make room for refugees; only a small number were allowed to stay in a small part of the buildings. Hummel spent some time with her family, but was able to return to the convent after about six weeks . She resumed her drawing work, and her income became the main financial support of the monastery. In 1944, Sr. Maria Innocentia fell ill with pleurisy and spent five months in the Wilhemstift sanatorium in Isny im Allgäu , before she returned to Sießen shortly before the end of the war. However, Hummel never fully recovered from her illness and in September 1945 was admitted to a children's sanatorium in Wangen im Allgäu with tuberculosis . She died in November 1946 at the age of 37 in the mother house in Sießen, in whose cemetery she is buried.

Bumblebee postcards

Numerous drawings by Hummel initially appeared as black and white, possibly colored postcard prints, later as color prints in the same DIN A6 format. These printed drawings sometimes have a line of handwritten text on the motif, at least one Christmas greeting card contains a large, drawn greeting text.

Postcards from Hummel have been published by at least the following publishers:

  • Verlag Josef Müller, Munich - Art cards (around 1960)
  • ars edition, Munich - art cards (around 1990)
  • Emil Fink Verlag, Stuttgart - Art cards (around 1990)

Signatures

Signatures are typically “Hummel” or “MIHummel” - with a J-shaped letter “I” and an overline above the “u”.

The font can be characterized as Kurrent handwriting modified with block letters.

Hummel figurines

Hummel figurine at the main entrance of the Hummel factory in Rödental

After a meeting with Hummel and the superior of the Sießen monastery in 1934, Franz Goebel (co-owner of the porcelain factory W. Goebel in Rödental ) received the license to convert Hummel's drawings into figures. In 1935 the first colored, glazed fine ceramic small sculptures were presented, which were created by the sculptors Arthur Möller and Reinhold Unger, who worked at Goebel.

Over the years, over 400 different figures have been created, which are checked by a committee of experts from the monastery and the Hummel family in cooperation with modelers, painters and the Goebel management to ensure that they match the artist's style and intention. A part of the proceeds still goes to the Franciscan Sisters of Sießen, who can use it to finance various projects.

In Germany every second household is said to have had a Hummel figure. But the figures also found a large following worldwide. Thousands of them went to the United States at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1935, and after 1945 American soldiers brought Hummel figures home as souvenirs from Germany. The Goebel Collectors' Club , now the MI Hummel Club , founded in 1977 , had over 200,000 members in the United States (approx. 60,000 in Europe), and the former American First Lady Betty Ford owned a sizable collection. About 30,000 collectors meet at the annual Hummel Festival in changing locations in the United States; in look-alike competitions, prizes are awarded to children who look like a Hummel figure.

At the end of October 2008 the production of the Hummel figurines at the Goebel company was stopped due to a lack of profitability. In January 2009 Jörg Köster, managing partner of the Höchst Porcelain Factory, took over the production of the Hummel figurines together with private investors. Under the company Manufaktur Rödental , Hummel figurines have been restored in the old rented production building in Rödental with 30 skilled workers since February 9, 2009. In 2012, the manufactory achieved sales of 5.5 million euros. On August 22, 2013, the managing director of Manufaktur Rödental GmbH filed for bankruptcy.

Since November 1, 2013, the company has been under new management. The history and tradition of the world-famous Hummel figurines were continued in Rödental and manufactured by "Hummel Manufaktur GmbH" . This company also filed for bankruptcy in September 2017. On December 22nd, 2017 it was announced that the Kulmbach entrepreneur Bernd Förtsch was taking over the Hummel Manufactory . He now wants to subject the company to a restructuring process . In the future, the focus will be on direct sales and a comprehensive community concept to integrate the large community of collectors. The annual production of handmade figures is to be reduced from 55,000 to 20,000. In addition, nothing should be manufactured that is smaller than ten centimeters or has a price less than 100 euros.

Collections

Berta Hummel Museum, Massing
  • In Hummel's parents' house in Massing , the Berta Hummel Museum was located in the Hummelhaus , which showed a collection on life and work. The aim of the museum was to bring the “unknown” side of Berta Hummel closer to the public. In addition to the most extensive collection of pictures, the museum housed the world's largest private collection of bumblebee figures. The museum was closed on July 22, 2019, a reopening in a new building in the open-air museum in Massing is planned.
  • The Hummel Hall in the Sießen Abbey ( Bad Saulgau ) shows an important collection of paintings and drawings .
  • In New Braunfels , Texas , the Hummel Museum exhibited over 300 works for decades. In 2000 the museum was renamed and from then on served as the Braunfels Museum of Art & Music for exhibitions of Texan art. The bumblebee pictures were withdrawn by the owner and have not been seen since 2000.

Publications

  • The Hummel book , with poems by Margarete Seemann . Fink Verlag, Stuttgart 1934 (English edition: The Hummel Book , Stuttgart 1950)
  • Hui, the bumblebee , with accompanying poems. Josef Müller Verlag, Munich 1939

literature

Biographical

Catalogs

  • Robert E. Dechant et al. a .: The other Berta Hummel. Unknown works by a well-known artist. Guide to the exhibition in the Diocesan Museum Obermünster Regensburg, 1986–1987 . 2nd, modified edition. Schnell and Steiner, Munich a. a. 1992, ISBN 3-7954-1032-0
  • Monika Drexler (conception): Lovis Corinth - Berta Hummel - Peter Wittmann, soul landscapes . Catalog for the exhibition from March 2008 to May 2009. Ed. Berta Hummel Museum in the Hummelhaus, Massing 2008, ISBN 978-3-00-024078-2
  • John F. Hotchkiss: Hummel Art . Wallace-Homeslead, Des Moines (Iowa) 1978, ISBN 0-87069-184-8
  • Alfred Hummel: Last gift. Exhibition on the 50th anniversary of the death of Berta / MI Hummel . Schnell and Steiner Regensburg 1996, ISBN 3-7954-1102-5
  • Genoveva Nitz: Massing and Berta Hummel. Exhibition 2000–2001 . Schnell and Steiner, Regensburg 2000, ISBN 3-7954-1310-9
  • Genoveva Nitz, MW Erler, A. Hummel: The Berta Hummel Museum in the Hummelhaus. Catalog for the opening of the museum in 1994 . Massing 1994
  • Birgit Reutemann: The Way of the Cross. Sketches by M. Innocentia Hummel. Reflections by M. Birgit Reutemann . Dietrich-Coelde-Verlag, Werl 2000, ISBN 3-87163-251-1
  • Wolfgang Urban (Ed.): Berta Hummel [Ill.] - World of Flowers - Peter Wittmann . [On the occasion of the exhibition "Berta Hummel - Blumenwelten - Peter Wittmann" in the Diözesanmuseum Rottenburg from June 3 to August 5, 2007]. With a contribution by Genoveva Nitz (= publication by the Diözesanmuseum Rottenburg , No. 15). Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Ulm [on the Danube] 2007, ISBN 978-3-88294-375-7 .
  • Berta Hummel. Catalog raisonné 1927–1931. Student days in Munich . Edited by the Berta Hummel Museum in the Hummelhaus, Massing. Prestel, Munich a. a. 2002, ISBN 3-7913-2824-7 (directory of the works of the student days; German and English)

Hummel figurines

  • Carl F. Luckey, Dean Genth (arr.): Luckey's Hummel Figurines & Plates. Identification and Price Guide . 12th edition. Krause Publications, Iola (Wisconsin) 2003, ISBN 0-873-49472-5
  • Robert L. Miller: MI Hummel Figurines, Plates, Miniatures & More . 9th edition. Reverie Publishing Company, Cumberland (Maryland) 2003, ISBN 0-942-62065-8
  • Wolfgang Schwatlo: M.-I.-Hummel collector's manual. Volume 1. Rarities and collectibles . Collectors' sales Schwatlo, Niedernhausen 1994, ISBN 3-9802668-0-X
  • Wolfgang Schwatlo: M.-I.-Hummel collector's manual. Volume 2. Original pictures, art cards, calendars, figurines, plates, miniatures and more . Collectors' sales Schwatlo, Niedernhausen 1996, ISBN 3-9802668-5-0
  • Wilhelm Siemen (Ed.): 50 years of "MI Hummel" figures 1935–1985 . Museum of the German Porcelain Industry Hohenberg / Eger, Hohenberg 1992, ISBN 3-927793-04-3
  • Dieter Struß: M.-I.-Hummel figures . Battenberg, Augsburg 1993, ISBN 3-89441-150-3

Web links

Commons : Maria Innocentia Hummel  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ See Renate Just: Kitsch. It remained her secret in: Die Zeit , December 23, 2008
  2. ↑ Postcards with the motifs of Berta Maria Innocentia Hummel detlef-heinsohn.de, Christine and Detlef Heinsohn, Hamburg, accessed January 31, 2018. - Collectors and dealers.
  3. ↑ Hummel figures are back . In: Coburger Tageblatt, 7./8. February 2009
  4. ↑ Christoph Scheppe: Insolvency money is safe . In: Neue Presse Coburg from September 3, 2013
  5. ↑ Hummel-Manufaktur files for bankruptcy. In: BR.de. September 28, 2017, archived from the original on December 30, 2017 ; accessed on November 18, 2017 .
  6. ↑ Christian Holhut: Kulmbacher market entrepreneurs saves Hummel figurines. In: inFranken.de. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017 .
  7. ↑ Christian Holhut: The stock exchange media boss has a heart for Hummel. In: inFranken.de. December 22, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017 .
  8. ^ Alfred Hummel: Sale in the Hummel Museum. In: www.hummelmuseum.de. Retrieved July 23, 2019 .
personal data
SURNAME Hummel, Maria Innocentia
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hummel, Berta (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German Franciscan, draftsman and painter
DATE OF BIRTH May 21, 1909
PLACE OF BIRTH Massing , Lower Bavaria
DATE OF DEATH November 6, 1946
Place of death Sießen Abbey , Bad Saulgau