Claire Volkhart

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Claire Selmair, also Claire Volkhart , born as Clara Agnes Bertha Ernestine Volkhart (born November 13, 1886 in Düsseldorf ; † February 11, 1935 there ), was a German sculptor and wax boss .

Life

Volkhart was a daughter of the genre painter and etcher Max Volkhart and his wife Anna, née Roeting. She grew up with an older sister and younger brother Kurt in an artistic environment in Düsseldorf. Her two grandfathers were the painters Wilhelm Volkhart and Julius Roeting , who worked in Düsseldorf .

She was a student of Rudolf Bosselt at the Düsseldorf School of Applied Arts . She attended Cipri Adolf Bermann's private sculpture school in Munich and, after long stays in Paris and Rome , settled permanently in Munich.

There she married the ten years younger actor Anton Theodor Selmair in 1918 , who became known under the stage name Tonio Selwart from 1927 . From 1930 her husband went to guest performances, first in Switzerland and London; from 1932 he also took on engagements in the USA and ultimately applied for American citizenship while his wife was still alive. The artist did not accompany her husband on his travels; their marriage remained childless. Claire Volkhart-Selmair was 48 years old. She died of pneumonia in February 1935 in her native Düsseldorf.

plant

Volkhart was also a painter, but she mainly worked as a sculptor and wax boss in porcelain production. In 1911 she was one of the founding members of the Düsseldorf Artists Association . In 1912 Volkart took part in the Great Berlin Art Exhibition with her bronze works, the Cinder urn and Joy of Life . During this time she also worked as a freelancer for the porcelain manufacturer Rosenthal .

From 1913 to 1929 she made designs for the porcelain figurines of the Schwarzburger Werkstätten . Her motifs were often young girls and women who she portrayed dancing. Porcelain art made according to their designs is still made today and sold at high prices.

In the 1920s, the artist made small dolls in her Munich arts and crafts workshop from wax that she had made herself and colored in many shades of color. The dolls were lifelike down to the smallest detail of expression, movement and clothing.

Works (selection)

  • Joy of Life , 1911
  • Harlequin and ballet artist , 1913,
  • Dancing couple , 1913,
  • Three Graces (Lust for Dance) , 1918,
  • Dancer with bow

literature

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Volkhart, Claire . In: Hans Vollmer (Hrsg.): General lexicon of fine artists from antiquity to the present . Founded by Ulrich Thieme and Felix Becker . tape 34 : Urliens – Vzal . EA Seemann, Leipzig 1940, p. 521 .
  2. ↑ a b Brigitte Bruns: Selwart, Tonio. In: New German Biography. 24, 2010, pp. 232-234 ( deutsche-biographie.de ).
  3. ^ A New Yorker by choice - Tonio Selwart died at the age of 106. In: Wiener Zeitung Online. November 5, 2002, accessed March 14, 2018 .
  4. ^ Ariane Neuhaus-Koch: The early years. In: Association of Düsseldorfer Künstlerinnen eV 1911–1991. Documentation for the 80th anniversary of the Association of Düsseldorfer Künstlerinnen eV, Düsseldorf 1991.
  5. ^ Great Berlin Art Exhibition 1912. Magazine volume , Berlin 1912, p. 70 ( digishelf.de ).
  6. ^ Ferdinand Götz: wax figures by Claire Selmair. In: German art and decoration: illustr. Monthly booklets for modern painting, sculpture, architecture, home art etc. artistic women work. Issue 11, August 1923, p. 305 ( uni-heidelberg.de ).
  7. ↑ Photo - Harlequin and Ballet Dancer
  8. ↑ Photo - Three Graces (Lust for Dance)
personal data
SURNAME Volkhart, Claire
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Volkhart, Clara Agnes Bertha Ernestine (full name); Selmair, Claire (married name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German sculptor and wax boss
DATE OF BIRTH November 13, 1886
PLACE OF BIRTH Dusseldorf
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1935
Place of death Dusseldorf