Else Hertzer
Else Hertzer (born November 24, 1884 in Wittenberg as Else Heintze ; † February 9, 1978 in Berlin ) was a German painter and graphic artist and an important representative of German Expressionism . In the seven decades in which she was artistically active, she created 215 oil and tempera pictures, 310 watercolors as well as numerous drawings , woodcuts , drypoint etchings and stencil prints .
life and work
As a young girl, Else was already scratching small figures in the icy window of her parents' apartment at Collegienstraße 22 in winter, which broke one of the window panes, whereupon her parents gave her an ink box. Before Else Hertzer married in 1909 and left her hometown Wittenberg in the same year to live with her husband Otto in Berlin from now on, she already created technically mature landscape pictures with impressions from the area around her hometown.
From 1909 onwards, she lived in the Berlin district of Tiergarten (first Altonaer Strasse, later and until the end of her life at Dortmunder Strasse 7), and trained as a painter under George Mosson and at the Academy of Arts. In 1929 she also took lessons from André Lhote in Paris .
Between 1911 and 1913, Else Hertzer stayed several times with her brother-in-law and mother-in-law in Buttstädt, Thuringia . Here she created more than thirty drypoint and oil paintings. Even in this early phase, some of these Buttstädt pictures were expressionistic, such as the view of a village street with violet shadows or the picture “Interior with a book table” from 1912.
From 1918 Else Hertzer was represented in the exhibitions of the Berlin Secession for several years , she made her debut with the painting “Frohnau”. The Parthenon Publishing moved 1924 by Else Hertzer handwritten and provided with six woodcuts edition of Atlakvida . The old atlilied , each copy of which was colored, numbered and signed by hand. The edition was 250 copies. In the same year, together with the artist Ruth Laube, she designed the legend "Of German Faith" written by Hugo von Waldeyer-Hartz . Ruth Laube created two woodblock prints for this and Else Hertzer designed the font by hand. Else Hertzer had been a member of the Association of Berlin Women Artists ( VdBK ) since 1928 and was on the board for two years and secretary from 1930 to 1933.
In a total of five own Berlin exhibitions, which were presented either in the parking garage in the English Garden or in the house on Lützowplatz, there were outstanding Berlin motifs such as the oil painting “U-Bahnbau Spittelmarkt” (1918) and impressions from numerous study trips (Italy, Spain, Dalmatia ) to see works with Wittenberg motifs, including two of her main works: the oil paintings “Kleiner Hafen bei Wittenberg” (1935) and “Pappelallee vor Wittenberg” (1939).
The bunker designed by Else Hertzer on behalf of the city of Wittenberg in 1940/1941 is no longer there, but she drew this bunker in April 1945 and there are eight photos of her large-format wall design inside the bunker. The history of Wittenberg is shown, spread over four walls and each 7 × 2.60 meters in size. While she was working on it, she lived with her mother, who was widowed at an early age, in a Wilhelminian-style building at Lutherstrasse 9, which also housed the agricultural winter school at times. Else Hertzer documented the destruction of the city of Wittenberg in the spring of 1945 with several colored artistic works, which are summarized in the folder "Wittenberg 1945". This portfolio also includes nine portraits of Indian prisoners of war, whose names and place of origin are recorded in two languages on each portrait.
On the occasion of the artist's 90th birthday, the Berliner Morgenpost wrote twice about Else Hertzer and was amazed at the “freshness and creativity in old age”. She retained this creative power until shortly before her death on February 9, 1978. Hertzer's late work consists of abstract compositions, Berlin impressions, exotic depictions of animals and Christian themes. Most recently she created a self-portrait that remained unfinished and yet reveals her artistic maturity.
Some of her graphic works with Wittenberg motifs as well as large parts of the “Wittenberg 1945” portfolio are in the possession of the municipal collections of Lutherstadt Wittenberg. After returning numerous loans in March 2017, the Berlinische Galerie only holds four works of art by Else Hertzer. An edition of the "Atlakvida" designed by Else Hertzer is in the holdings of the Lindenau Museum Altenburg , several of her color studies and a watercolor from 1946 belong to the holdings of the Luther Memorials Foundation in Saxony-Anhalt and the estate taken over from the VdBK is in the archive of the Academy of Arts Berlin.
On the VdBK website there has been an entry on Else Hertzer in the online lexicon since November 2016, which is continuously being expanded.
Exhibitions
- Else Hertzer & Brun-Stiller, multi-storey car park in the English Garden, Berlin, 1962
- Else Hertzer, House of the Church, Berlin, 1969
- Else Hertzer on her 90th birthday: paintings, drawings, watercolors, etchings, parking garage in the English Garden Berlin, 1966, 1970 and June 17–15. July 1975
- The postponed work from 70 years, Haus am Lützowplatz Berlin, 1979
- The Fläming near Wittenberg, thirty original works from the years 1907 to 1951, Historical Hall of the Simonettihaus , Coswig (Anhalt) , 2016
- Luther and the cows. 20 pictures by the avant-garde artist Else Hertzer, Vlora-Café, Wittenberg, 2017
- “Else Hertzer” - pictures from Fläming, agnes neuhaus café, Berlin-Niederschönhausen, June 9, 2017–15. July 2017
- Retrospective "Else Hertzer. The Versatile. Wittenberg. Berlin. Buttstädt. Paris", Kunsthaus Apolda , June 30 to September 1, 2019 (accessed on July 13, 2019)
- Rediscovered: Else Hertzer (1884–1978) - watercolors and drawings from Füssen, the Alps, Wittenberg and Berlin, Museum of the City of Füssen , June 20, 2020 to September 6, 2020
Participation in exhibitions (selection)
- Graphic exhibition by Ernst Neumann's students, 1913
- Berlin Secession, 1918 to 1924 and 1932 and 1933
- Jury-free art show Berlin, 1925 and 1927
- The German painter and sculptor, Kunstpalast Düsseldorf, 1936
- General German Art Exhibition, Dresden, 1946
- Fine arts, Lutherstadt Wittenberg , 1946
- State art exhibition Saxony-Anhalt, Halle / Saale, 1949
- Art exhibition Winter Pictures, Berlin-Tiergarten, 1949
- Exhibitions by the Association of Berlin Women Artists, 1958 to 1978
- 100 years of the Association of Berlin Women Artists, Charlottenburg, 1967
- Annual exhibitions GEDOK, Berlin, 1970 to 1977
- Berlin artist in Lidice / Bohemia, 1971
- The proportion of women in the art of the 1920s, Pels-Leusden Galerie, Berlin, 1977
- Free Berlin Art Exhibition, Galerie am Buschgraben, Berlin-Zehlendorf, 1978
- Stadtische Galerie Schloß Oberhausen, 1988
- Profession without tradition. 125 years of VdBK, Martin-Gropius-Bau, Berlin, 1992
- Sequel follows. 150 Years Association of Berlin Women Artists, Camaro Foundation November 26, 2016–24. March 2017
- Three cups and a Japanese doll. Artists in Dialogue, Das Verborgene Museum , Berlin, April 27, 2017–6. August 2017
- Decalogue - An Association Room IX - X, Guardini Galerie, Berlin, May 10, 2017–31. October 2017
Meaning and reception
On October 19, 1930 , the newspaper Der Berliner Westen reported in great detail about this event on the occasion of the exhibition “Die Gestaltende Frau” near Wertheim in Berlin, organized by the German Association of Women Citizens . In the section dealing with painting and graphics, the following can be read: “ Lotte Laserstein's mature naturalism emerges with the graphic 'Sleeping Women', which is a little too dark. Grete Csaki-Copony , Käthe Münzer-Neumann , Else Hertzer, Lene Schneider-Kainer should also be mentioned. It is nice that the late Paula Modersohn was remembered on this occasion and that her portrait of a girl was borrowed from the National Gallery. When it comes to graphics, of course, Professor Käthe Kollwitz sets the tone. She enriches the exhibition with some new woodcuts with demonic force. ”For decades, Else Hertzer's works of art were represented in exhibitions in which pictures by Lovis Corinth , Karl Schmidt-Rottluff , Marc Chagall and Käthe Kollwitz were hung.
In 1975, the Berlin art historian Dorothee Trepplin emphasized in the preface to the exhibition catalog Else Hertzer on the occasion of Else Hertzer's 90th birthday, the “impression of the versatility in the use of artistic means [and] the wide range in thematic and stylistic”. The art scholar Carola Muysers emphasized the importance of Else Hertzer's early creative phase in particular. In 1991 she wrote in a letter to the lawyer Otfried Dyroff: "Else Hertzer worked much more qualitatively and much more 'avant-garde' than the much-vaunted Münter ".
After the purchase of several major works and the acceptance of numerous works of art on loan by the Berlinische Galerie at the end of the 1970s, not a single one of the acquired works of art is present in the permanent exhibition and a few pictures were only shown for a short time. Under these circumstances and since most of the artistic estate is in private hands, the artist was largely forgotten after her death.
According to the artist's will, the artist colleague Hans Stein was intended to take care of the artistic estate. In return, he received a four-digit amount in cash, several early works of art and tools such as the easel and printing press from Else Hertzer. Apart from drawing up a price list, after the artist's death, Hans Stein did nothing to make her known to the public. He does not even allow the works by Else Hertzer in his possession to be recorded. First through the publications of the non-fiction author Mathias Tietke on the artistic legacy of Else Hertzer and through the exhibitions curated by him of thirty Fläming pictures from the years 1907 to 1951 in Coswig (Anhalt) , “Luther and the cows. Twenty pictures by the avant-garde artist Else Hertzer ”in Wittenberg as well as the retrospective" Else Hertzer. The Versatile "at the Kunsthaus Apolda have brought the artist's life and work back into the public eye since autumn 2015.
Works (selection)
Else Hertzer, Thunderstorm mood over Füssen, watercolor, 1922
Else Hertzer, Old City Wall Bastion Donnersberg in Wittenberg, watercolor, 1938
literature
- Mathias Tietke: Hertzer, Hedwig Elsa (Else), b. Heintze . In: Eva Labouvie (Ed.): Women in Saxony-Anhalt, Vol. 2: A biographical-bibliographical lexicon from the 19th century to 1945. Böhlau, Cologne et al. 2019, ISBN 978-3-412-51145-6 , p. 219-223.
- Else Hertzer. The versatile one. Wittenberg, Berlin, Buttstädt, Paris, exhibition catalog, Kunsthaus Apolda Avantgarde, 2019, ISBN 978-3-9817420-7-7
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Mathias Tietke: Wittenberg. The 99 special sides of the city, p. 59
- ↑ Berlin Statistics: Monthly . Kulturbuch-Verlag., 1978 ( google.de [accessed on July 29, 2018]).
- ^ Home calendar 2005, Lutherstadt Wittenberg & District Wittenberg, p. 74
- ↑ Berliner Morgenpost, July 12, 1975
- ↑ Hertzer Else. In: vdbk1867.de. Retrieved July 28, 2018 .
- ^ Else Hertzer on her 90th birthday: paintings, drawings, watercolors, etchings; Exhibition from June 17 to July 15, 1975, multi-storey car park in the English Garden, Tiergarten District Office of Berlin, Art Office . 1975 ( google.de [accessed on July 29, 2018]).
- ^ Corinna Nitz: Else Hertzer exhibition in Coswig: "You would be happy". In: mz-web.de. May 11, 2016. Retrieved July 28, 2018 .
- ↑ "Else Hertzer" in the historical hall of the Simonettihaus. In: coswigonline.de. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Karina Blüthgen: Else Hertzer exhibition: Got to the cow. In: mz-web.de. May 19, 2017. Retrieved July 28, 2018 .
- ↑ Vernissage and exhibition "Else Hertzer" - Pictures from Fläming in the agnes neuhaus café - June 9 to July 15, 2017. In: berliner-woche.de. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ http://kunsthausapolda.de/
- ↑ https://www.thueringer-allgemeine.de/regionen/apolda/apolda-von-der-kuh-in-oel-bis-zum-bombentreffer-als-aquarell-id226312425.html
- ↑ https://www.fuessenaktuell.de/index.php/2020/05/wiederentdeck-else-hertzer-1884-1978/
- ↑ To be continued! In: kunstaspekte.art. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Women artists in dialogue. Three cups and a Japanese doll. In: dasverborgenemuseum.de. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ DECALOGUE - AN ASSOCIATION ROOM IX - X. In: kunstaspekte.art. Retrieved July 29, 2018 .
- ↑ Der Berlin Westen, Sunday, October 19, 1930
- ^ Exhibition catalog "Else Hertzer on her 90th birthday", district office Tiergarten of Berlin, art office
- ↑ Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, October 23, 2015
- ↑ Works and regularly new information: https://www.facebook.com/ElseHertzer/
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Hertzer, Else |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Heintze, Else (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | German artist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 24, 1884 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Wittenberg |
| DATE OF DEATH | February 9, 1978 |
| Place of death | Berlin |