Edith Meyer von Kamptz

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Edith Meyer von Kamptz, 1940s

Edith Meyer von Kamptz , born Meta Frida Gustave Edith Kiel (* 15. June 1884 in Minden , † 7. January 1969 in light ) was a German painter and sculptor whose artistic work to the styles of Impressionism , Expressionism and the New Objectivity assign leaves.

life and work

Edith Meyer von Kamptz was born in 1884 as the youngest daughter of the soap manufacturer Wilhelm Kiel (1850–1932) and his wife Meta. Tilly (1854–1942) was born in Minden, Westphalia. After attending the municipal secondary school for girls in Minden 1890–1900 and the Sant'Anna monastery school in Lugano 1900–1901, she married on April 7, 1904, Lieutenant Fritz von Kamptz (1878–1933) stationed in Minden. This marriage had three children: Meta (1906–1992), Bernhard (1912–1951) and Johanna (1914–1996).

In 1912 Edith von Kamptz met the painter William Straube (1871–1954), who had been a member of the Académie Matisse in Paris from 1908 to 1911, in Koblenz , where her husband had been transferred on business . Following her artistic inclinations while still at school, inspired by her uncle Max Kiel (1859–1900), who lived as a painter in Munich , Edith von Kamptz took drawing and painting lessons from Straube in Koblenz. In the confrontation with his new, modern conception of art influenced by the avant-garde of French Fauvism , she experienced her artistic 'initiation'. During the First World War , she finally decided on a self-determined artistic existence; In 1915 she traveled to Berlin to study at Arthur Lewin-Funcke's (1866-1937) 'study atelier for painting and sculpture' , then, in 1917, with the portrait painter Fritz Burger (1867-1927) and the impressionist painter and co-founder of the Berliner Secession Dora Hitz (1856–1924) to provide further training. She was so enthusiastic about visiting an exhibition by Max Pechstein (1881–1955) in Berlin in 1918 that she dealt intensively with Expressionism.

Edith Meyer v. Kamptz: Two women ; Pastel, undated

In November 1920 Edith von Kamptz met the branch director of the Anthroposophical Society in Berlin and Goethe researcher Rudolf Meyer (1878–1947); The first encounter developed into a love affair that led to the wedding on October 2, 1924, after Edith's divorce from Fritz von Kamptz in December 1923. In order to be close to her children, who, on Rudolf Meyer's advice, attended the Waldorf School in Stuttgart , founded in 1919 , Edith Meyer von Kamptz moved to the Swabian metropolis in 1922, where she lived until 1930 and joined the anthroposophical artists' circle in the house of the painter Nora Ruhtenberg (1890–1974) joined, which also included the painters Margarita Woloschin (1882–1973) and Imogen von Bernus (1876–1939).

When Edith Meyer von Kamptz returned to Berlin in 1930, the artistically most productive and important period began. She worked in the 'school studio' of the painter Willy Jaeckel (1888–1944), who gave her suggestions for portrait painting. In the years that followed, the artist created numerous portrait pictures that can be assigned to the New Objectivity, many expressive nude studies , oil and pastel paintings, watercolors and drawings, which, in addition to human portraits, depict travel impressions, nature and animal motifs, urban and rural-rural scenes . For further artistic training, including fresco painting , Edith Meyer von Kamptz attended courses at the Berlin Art Academy with Hermann Sandkuhl (1872–1936), Kurt Wehlte (1897–1973) and Wilhelm Tank (1888–1967) in the 1930s . She now also worked as a sculptor in the studios of the ' Association of Berlin Women Artists ', which she joined.

Edith Meyer v. Kamptz: Young woman ; Pencil, charcoal, watercolor, undated (presumably 1930s)

During the Second World War , after the first Allied bombing raids on Berlin, Edith and Rudolf Meyer sought refuge in the small, idyllic village of Uchte north of Minden, where Edith's parents had owned a manor house since 1901. In 1944 Edith Meyer von Kamptz began to equip the large hall of the manor house with colorful allegorical murals that illustrated human, cultural development, the unity of "art, knowledge and religion". Edith and Rudolf Meyer opened their new artistically designed home as the 'Studienhaus Hammerberg' in August 1946 to a “new German youth”, “who is looking for a renewal of cultural life from the spirit of the future”. Through lectures, discussion and working groups, thoughts of "classical German humanity", the "ideas of Rudolf Steiner and Goetheanism should be conveyed in a lively manner"; Edith Meyer von Kamptz also offered painting courses. After Rudolf Meyer's death on October 24, 1947, the artist saw it as her duty to preserve her husband's intellectual legacy and to continue his ideas and plans. She was the head of the 'Studienhaus' until old age.

The Kiel manor on the Hammerberg in Uchte, around 1902; since 1946 'study house'

After her death on January 7, 1969 (like her parents and her husband Rudolf Meyer, she found her grave in the cemetery in Uchte), two smaller 'memorial exhibitions' in 1969 in Uchte and 1970 in Stuttgart commemorated the artist's work. "Edith Meyer v. To classify Kamptz in an art movement ”, as one critic judged the exhibition in Uchte,“ is almost impossible, the framework is so wide. Many of her numerous landscapes and portraits are reminiscent of Cézanne's post-impressionism . Outlook changes with inner vision. Edith Meyer v. Kamptz is more repugnant than the external effect. ”With the monograph presented by Hartmut Vollmer in 2018, the works of Edith Meyer von Kamptz were presented for the first time in a larger collection.

Large hall in the 'study house' with the murals by Edith Meyer v. Kamptz
  • Oil portraits from the 1930s
  • Portrait of a young woman
  • boxer
  • Young woman
  • Woman with handbag

literature

  • Günter Mootz: The Uchter study house. In: Mootz: Uchte. Pictures tell from days gone by. Vol. 2. Geiger-Verlag, Horb / Neckar 2008, ISBN 978-3-86595-226-4 , pp. 42-45.
  • Meta Schiller: Edith Meyer von Kamptz, b. Kiel. In: Messages from the anthroposophical work in Germany. No. 88, 1969, pp. 140f.
  • Hartmut Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz (1884–1969). A painter on the way to the modern age. Igel-Verlag, Hamburg 2018, ISBN 978-3-86815-729-1 .

Web links

Commons : Edith Meyer von Kamptz  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ These and the following biographical information are taken from Vollmer's documentation: Hartmut Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz (1884–1969). A painter on the way to the modern age. Hamburg 2018.
  2. ↑ https://istitutosantanna.ch/
  3. ↑ On Rudolf Meyer cf. http://biographien.kulturimpuls.org/detail.php?&id=1519
  4. ↑ Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz , p. 54.
  5. ↑ On the 'study house' in Uchte cf. Günter Mootz: The Uchter study house. In: Mootz: Uchte. Pictures tell from days gone by. Vol. 2. Horb / Neckar 2008, pp. 42-45; and: http://www.restauratorin.com/index.php?id=35 ; http://www.hausforscher.de/2013/04/das-studienhaus-uchte.html
  6. ↑ Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz , p. 57.
  7. ↑ Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz , p. 57.
  8. ↑ Anon. ("HB"): Study House Hammerberg - Worpswede in Uchte. In: Die Harke , 24./25. May 1969; quoted from Vollmer: Edith Meyer von Kamptz , p. 61.
personal data
SURNAME Meyer von Kamptz, Edith
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Meyer von Kamptz, Edith Meta Gustave Frieda (full name); Kiel, Edith (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH June 15, 1884
PLACE OF BIRTH Minden
DATE OF DEATH 7th January 1969
Place of death Uchte