Katerina Wilczynski

Katerina (Käte) Wilczynski (* 1894 in Posen , † 1978 in London ) was a German painter , graphic artist and illustrator .

Life

Katerina Wilczynski grew up in Berlin. She studied in Leipzig at the Academy of Graphic Arts with Hugo Steiner-Prag , in Berlin at the School of Applied Arts with Emil Orlik and at the University of Fine Arts with Hans Meid . Long study trips took her from Berlin to Paris and Spain; In 1930 she received the Rome Prize, a scholarship from the Accademia Tedesca (Villa Massimo), and stayed in Rome until she emigrated to London in 1939. She lived in London until her death. During the Second World War she worked as an "unofficial war artist" for the British government and drew bombed-out buildings. After the war, Katerina Wilczynski traveled a lot again, to Italy, Spain, France, and especially since 1952 to Greece.

Artistic achievements

Drawing by Katerina Wilczynski with reference to her numerous trips, including to Greece

Katerina Wilczynski began her artistic activity in the 1920s with commercial graphic works and book illustrations (such as etchings for Waldemar Bonsel's “India trip” and sketches for travel guides). The portrait (including people from the business community: Heinrich Stinnes ; actors: Elisabeth Bergner , Tilla Durieux , Rudolf Forster , Heinrich George , Emil Jannings , Fritz Kortner ; artists and writers: Giorgio di Chirico , CW Ceram ) was their artistic focus early on and for a long time Emphasis, often with a caricatural tendency. From the art criticism will soon be a signatory along with Käthe Kollwitz and Renée Sintenis called. After “Discovery of the Left Hand” (own description), she worked with both hands, so to speak, with each hand having to play its own part for the success of the work. In addition to the portraits, they were preferably street scenes and genres . As Katerina Wilczynski herself writes, she only found her relationship with nature through her many trips to Greece. This is how her extensive work of landscape drawings came about . In addition to drawing techniques with pen , chalk , charcoal and bamboo , she mastered woodcut , etching and lithography . By the way, she also painted with oil paints.

Works

Katerina Wilczynski donated large parts of her work from 1914 to 1973 to the Berlin Art Library of the State Museums Foundation of Prussian Cultural Heritage . In 1975, in the series of collection catalogs of the art library, No. 9 was a 40-page catalog raisonné with 156 described works and 28 illustrations, edited by Gretel Wagner. There is also a list of publications illustrated by Katerina Wilczynski.

Book illustrations (selection):

• Waldemar Bonsels : Kyrie eleison . Eigenbrödlerverlag, Berlin 1922 - with 6 etchings
• Waldemar Bonsels: India trip . Literary Institute Rütten & Loening, Frankfurt a. M. 1920 - with 12 etchings
• Series What is not in "Baedeker" , Piper Verlag 1927–1938, volumes Paris and Rome with drawings

literature

Collection catalogs of the Berlin Art Library, edited by Gretel Wagner. Catalog 9: Katerina Wilczynski , Gretel Wagner, Katerina Wilczynski, Berlin 1975 ISBN 3776901470 .

Web links

• Literature by and about Katerina Wilczynski in the catalog of the German National Library
• artnet.de - Katerina Wilczynski (3 images) , accessed July 15, 2012
• National Portrait Gallery - Katerina Wilczynski (1 picture) , accessed July 15, 2012