Elisabeth Ivanovna Epstein

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
August Macke: Portrait study of Elisabeth Epstein, 1912. Pencil. 17 × 10.8 cm, Germanisches Nationalmuseum Nürnberg

Elisabeth Ivanovna Epstein , née Hefter, (born March 11, 1879 in Zhytomyr / Ukraine ; † January 22, 1956 in Geneva ) was a Russian modern painter who lived and worked in Russia, Germany, France and Switzerland.

life and work

Until 1989, Epstein, like many other women in the arts , was known only by a few mentions in the relevant art historical literature. The situation has improved in the meantime, so that you can at least reconstruct a sketchy résumé. One is informed about the appearance of the painter from a photograph that she shows in Paris, accompanied by Wassily Kandinsky . It is strikingly consistent with a portrait sketch by August Macke from 1912. Both representations can be supplemented by two late self-portraits . We now know more than 70 paintings by Epstein , but no drawings or prints .

The artistic beginnings in Russia

Elisabeth Hefter received her first artistic training from 1895 to 1897 from Leonid Pasternak , who taught at the Moscow “ School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture ”. He belonged to the group of "traveling exhibitors" - the Peredwischniki - who advocated raising the level of local exhibitions in Moscow. Pasternak was given the nickname, the “Russian Impressionist” , which meant so much for Epstein's development that she was able to orientate herself on a painter who was open to modernity.

Further education in Germany

From 1896, Hefter continued her education in the studio of the Slovenian Anton Ažbe in Munich until 1904, where she got to know the wet-on-wet technique . There she met Kandinsky and Alexej Jawlensky . Together with these and other Russian artists, she frequented the “pink salon” of Baroness Marianne von Werefkin .

1898 married stapler on 21 April in Warsaw the Munich-based doctor since 1894 and Councilor Dr. Mieszyslaw Epstein (1868-1931). Their son Alexander was born on March 28, 1899 in Munich. Thomas Mann's story “ Tonio Kröger ” was written between 1900 and 1902 , for whose figure the witty painter Lisaweta Iwanowna Epstein served as a model. At that time, Epstein was also in contact with the Russian painter Olga Markowa Meerson , who lived on Giselastrasse in Munich and was "chairwoman" of Kandinsky's phalanx school .

From this period - to be dated around 1903 - Epstein's earliest painting that can be documented to date comes, a portrait of her son Alexander, in which she used the painting of Ažbes in broad brush strokes. The picture shows that Epstein, in the spirit of her teacher Ažbe and at the height of the time in Munich, mastered an impressionistic painting “wet-on-wet” à la Lovis Corinth , almost on a par with her colleague Jawlensky. In 1904 she went to France for a few months and attended the Académie de la Palette in Paris , where she made friends with Sonia Terk , who was also from Ukraine . In 1905 Epstein stayed in Switzerland and then returned to Munich. A still life dated 1905 by Epstein in the picture - through the type of brushwork in narrow lines and wide, elongated spots, derived from Neo-Impressionism - is so related to Jawlensky's painting at the same time that one can assume that it was under his guidance in his painting school was created, in which Franziska Countess zu Reventlow , Rudolf Czapek and Gabriele Münter could also be found.

Continuing education in France

In 1906, Epstein initially lived in Westerham near Rosenheim for some time , only to return to Paris in the same year. There she lived with Sonia Terk and other artists in a shared apartment. Artistically she worked together with Sonia Terk and the Prague painter Eugen von Kahler (1882-1911). Epstein “probably” met the latter in the Café du Dôme . In Sèvres she visited Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter together with Olga Meerson . - A special event for her in 1906 was her participation in the section of Russian art of the Salon d'Automne , organized with great pomp in the Grand Palais by Sergei Djagilew . This showed the young generation of Russian artists with works a. a. by Epstein's colleagues like Léon Bakst , Alexander Benois , Natalija Gontscharowa , Igor Grabar , Jawlensky, Kandinsky, Michail Larionow , Konstantin Somow or Michail Wrubel . - In 1907 she took part in the Paris Salon d'Automne. In 1908, Epstein stayed temporarily in Munich to initiate her divorce from her husband. Together with Kandinsky, she was then a student of Jawlensky, which is evident from Kandinsky's letters from the 1930s. The final move to Paris took place on October 1st. Again she exhibited at the Paris Salon d'Automne. In 1910 she met Robert Delaunay in Paris , who had meanwhile been married to her friend Sonja Terk, as well as Fernand Léger , Amédée Ozenfant , Juan Gris and Henri Le Fauconnier , who in the same year became a member of the Neue Künstlervereinigung München and participated in their exhibitions.

Mediator between the Parisian avant-garde and the Blauer Reiter editorial team

In 1911, Epstein exhibited again at the Paris Salon d'Automne. At that time, she became the most important contact person for Kandinsky and Franz Marc on the Paris art scene. It was she who arranged the meaningful contact between Delaunay and Kandinsky. One of their portraits and one of their still lifes from that time were presented by Kandinsky and Marc in the first exhibition of the Der Blaue Reiter editorial team . Kandinsky is said to have bought the portrait. What is certain is that she gave the still life entitled “Thistles” to Kandinsky. Marc brokered sales of her work to Hans Goltz's “Neue Kunst” gallery . Kandinsky is said to have asked her to translate his work “On the Spiritual in Art” into French. In 1912 she divorced Mieszyslaw Epstein. - Franz and Maria Marc and August Macke visited Epstein in Montmorency near Paris. Marc was particularly impressed by her portraiture at the time. She took part in the first series of exhibitions by the editorial staff of the Blue Rider in the Gereonsklub in Cologne . In Herwarth Walden's art magazine "Der Sturm" in 1912 published their theoretical treatise "Some Thoughts on image formation," in which they, among other things with the Cubism dealt. In 1913, she published another article in the art magazine "Der Sturm" with the title "The Ridiculous". In it she commented positively on abstract art : “The urge for abstraction is growing ever greater; this real need pushes on and on and abstraction becomes the first requirement. ”She spoke of“ true abstraction ”and doubted that everyone is capable of dealing with it:“ But how many can abstract without losing all sense, how many can leave their ground to be safer in abstraction? The result is works that look abstract, that are nothing and that say nothing. ”- The gallery“ Der Sturm ”also exhibited two of its portraits at the First German Autumn Salon . At the end of the year she again took part in the Salon d'Automne in Paris. In 1914 she met Jawlensky in Bordighera on the Ligurian coast , who was staying in the "Villa Constantia". Epstein lived in the nearby "Pension Richemont".

The 1920s in Geneva and Paris

From 1914, as far as we know today, there was a large gap in Epstein's artistic oeuvre until 1928. The dates of her life reveal that she lived, for example, in Geneva and Paris in 1916/17 with interruptions. In Geneva she apparently had contact with Werefkin and Jawlensky, who were then living in Saint-Prex on Lake Geneva . In Geneva, Epstein repeatedly exhibited her paintings between 1918 and 1928. Otherwise, no detailed information about their living and working conditions for this period has been known to date.

In Epstein's pictures, which were created from the late 1920s, individual cubist forms can be found reduced and less crystalline. She shows sharp-edged facets softened and modified. The characteristic colourfulness of early Cubism - brown, green and gold tones - usually brings them into harmony with the three basic colors - restrained yellow, red and blue - and joins them with Van Gogh's complementary colors - violet, green and orange - and complements them with the non-color pair black and white. Orphistic elements that refer to her collaboration with her friends, the Delaunay couple, can be found again and again in her pictures .

The 1930s in Paris

In 1930 Epstein got an exhibition at the Zak gallery in Paris. Until 1938 she participated in exhibitions at the Paris Salon des Surindépendants , which was founded by the Brazilian painter and poet Vicente do Rego Monteiro . From the end of 1934, Epstein met Kandinsky, who also lived in Paris, again. The latter reported in a letter to the in Wiesbaden on arthritis severely suffering Jawlensky: "EI Epstein was about 3 weeks ago with us and greets you." Another letter Kandinsky from 1936 shows that the friendship between Epstein, Jawlensky and Kandinsky time already it had existed for decades: “We recently had EI Epstein. What a nice woman, a good, dear person. We talked about you and remembered the old days and worked out how long we have known each other. It turned out 40 years. We remembered how we were both students with you. "He made no secret of the fact that he was a former apprentice at Jawlensky, even from his wife Nina (1893–1980):" I told Nina Nikolajewna about our wonderful times in Munich, where you taught me. "

Relocation to Geneva

In 1937, Epstein decided to move to Geneva for health reasons. In 1938/39 she sent pictures to exhibitions at the Galerie Pittoresque, Paris. In 1940/41 her works were exhibited in the Moos Gallery in Geneva. In 1942 she received a visit from Sonia Delaunay. After a long illness, Elisabeth Epstein died in Geneva in 1956.

literature

  • E. Epstein: Some thoughts on image creation , Der Sturm, 1912, vol. 3, no. 140/141, p. 236 f.
  • Elisabeth Epstein: Being ridiculous , Der Sturm, 1913, vol. 4, no. 156/157, p. 13
  • Bernd Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein, an artist friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky, Clemens Weiler as a souvenir. Galleria Sacchetti, Ascona 1989.
  • Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light , Munich 2004, pp. 44, 66, 85, 121-122, 157, 169.
  • Hildegard Reinhardt : Abstraction is not a beginning, but a possible goal . In: Off to Munich. Women artists around 1900 . Exhibition catalog Stadtmuseum München, Munich 2014.
  • Hildegard Reinhardt, Elisabeth Epstein: Moscow-Munich-Paris-Geneva, Waystations of a Painter and Mediator of the French-German Cultural Transfer . In: Marianne Werefkin and the Women Artists in Her Circle , edited by Tanja Malycheva and Isabel Wünsche, Leiden / Bostein 2016.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Gisela Kleine: Gabriele Münter and Wassily Kandinsky, biography of a couple , Frankfurt / M. 1990, p. 258
  2. ↑ Klaus Lankheit: Caricatures by August Mackes from the estate of Franz Marc . In exh. Cat .: August Macke, paintings, watercolors, drawings, Westphalian State Museum for Art and Cultural History, Münster 1986, p. 136, fig. 9
  3. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein. An artist friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky . 1989, No. 43 and No. 51
  4. ↑ Grigori J. Sternin, Das Kunstleben Rußlands at the turn of the century, Dresden 1976, p. 09
  5. ↑ Natalia Alexandrowa: Russian and Soviet drawings and watercolors from 1900 to 1930 from the Pushkin Museum Moscow , Städtische Kunsthalle Mannheim, Mannheim 1990, p. 53
  6. ↑ Valentine Macardé: Le renouveau de l'art picturale russe 1863-1914 , Lausanne 1971, p. 135 f.
  7. ↑ See Annegret Hoberg: Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Münter in Murnau and Kochel 1902-1914, Letters and Recollections , Munich 1994, p. 31
  8. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein, an artistic friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky . 1989, No. 33
  9. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light . 2004, p. 60 ff.
  10. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein, an artistic friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky . 1989, No. 29
  11. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light . 2004, p. 73 f.
  12. ^ Franziska Uhlig: Biographies . In exh. Cat .: Der Blaue Reiter and the New Image From the ›Neue Künstlervereinigung München‹ to the Blauer Reiter , Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1999, p. 383
  13. ^ Annegret Hoberg: Gabriele Münter, biography . In exh. Cat .: Gabriele Münter 1877-1962, retrospective, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich 1992, p. 12
  14. ^ Camilla Gray, The Great Experiment, The Russian Art 1863-1922, Cologne 1974, p. 51
  15. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein, an artistic friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky . 1989, p. 7 ff.
  16. ↑ Rosel Gollek: The Blue Rider in the Lenbachhaus Munich . In: Catalog of the collection in the Städtische Galerie, Munich 1974, p. 274 f.
  17. ↑ Wassily Kandinsky: About the Spiritual in Art, especially in Painting , Munich 1912, (1st edition), (The first edition was published by Piper in Munich at the end of 1911 with the imprint 1912)
  18. ↑ Wassily Kandinsky, Franz Marc: Briefwechsel , Ed. Klaus Lankheit, Munich 1983, p. 193
  19. ^ Mario-Andreas von Lüttichau: The stations of the Tournai . In exh. Cat .: Der Blaue Reiter , Kunsthalle Bremen, Bremen 2000, p. 59
  20. ↑ Epstein: Some thoughts on the creation of images . 1912, p. 236.
  21. ↑ Epstein: The ridiculousness . 1913, p. 13.
  22. ↑ The “Portrait of a Young Girl” is shown in the catalog, catalog number 127, First German Autumn Salon: Berlin 1913 , reprint [d. Ed.], Galerie Der Sturm, Berlin 1913, ISBN 3-88375-082-4
  23. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Jawlensky and his companions in a new light . 2004, p. 168 f.
  24. ↑ Bernd Fäthke: Marianne Werefkin , Munich 2001, p. 187 ff.
  25. ↑ See e.g. B. Epstein's self-portrait from 1930, (Fäthke: Elisabeth Ivanowna Epstein, an artist friendship with Kandinsky and Jawlensky . 1989, no. 51) with Robert Delaunay's "Portrait of Madame Hein" from around 1927, (Martine Briand, catalog of the works on display, in Aust. Cat .: Robert Delaunay / Sonia Delaunay, The Center Pompidou visits Hamburg, Hamburger Kunsthalle, Hamburg 1999, p. 153, fig. 56)
  26. ^ Wassily Kandinsky: Correspondence with Alexej Jawlensky, December 22, 1934 , copies, private archive for expressionist painting, Wiesbaden
  27. ^ Wassily Kandinsky: Correspondence with Alexej Jawlensky, May 14, 1936 , copies, private archive for expressionist painting, Wiesbaden
  28. ^ Wassily Kandinsky: Correspondence with Alexej Jawlensky, June 11, 1938 , copies, private archive for expressionist painting, Wiesbaden
personal data
SURNAME Epstein, Elisabeth Ivanovna
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hefter, Elisabeth (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Russian painter
DATE OF BIRTH March 11, 1879
PLACE OF BIRTH Zhytomyr , Ukraine
DATE OF DEATH January 22, 1956
Place of death Geneva