Maria Freudenreich

Maria Freudenreich (* 1860 in Erbach ; † December 6, 1914 in Ochsenhausen ) was a German restorer of church paintings and sought-after portraitist , which was reflected in numerous commissions from clerical and secular dignitaries.

Life

Maria Freudenreich was born as the daughter of Genovefa Bechler and Wilhelm Freudenreich. Her ancestors on the father's and mother's side came from Ehingen . She grew up in Ochsenhausen and was encouraged from an early age by her father, a teacher and painter. At the age of 16 she came to the Munich School of Applied Arts , where she studied with the animal painter Anton Braith , among others . Through her father's contacts, she enjoyed the support of established art professors. This enabled her to make a living after completing her studies (mostly with pastor pictures), which was unusual for a woman in art at that time - especially since she remained single.

Works

Parish Church of the Birth of Mary in Pfärrich , side altar on the left behind

Side altar right behind

Alone or together with her father (whose work can still be seen today at the Federsee in Tiefenbach and Brasenberg and in the Ochsenhausen area), Maria Freudenreich restored many church paintings and frescoes , including the large altarpiece by Johann Heinrich Schönfeld in the Ochsenhausen monastery church . Like her father, who created portraits for the Counts of Erbach-Erbach in the Odenwald , she also worked as a portrait painter. In addition to relatives and acquaintances, she painted representatives of the nobility and clergy in Upper Swabia . Numerous family portraits can be found among the descendants of Maria's brother in Biberach . In 1907 she gave a painting depicting St. Wilhelm to her cousin Wilhelm Bechler. As a restorer, she worked on altar leaves and ceiling paintings in Ochsenhausen and in Upper Swabian monasteries as far as Rottenmünster near Rottweil .

Maria Freudenreich experienced the peak of her work in the years from 1893. She portrayed the lords of Zeil , Aulendorf , Oberdischingen, Oberkirchberg and Hohenheim near Kirchheim in Bavaria. In addition, she received orders for depictions of saints , Stations of the Cross , ceiling paintings and altar leaves in churches and chapels in Upper Swabian monasteries and parishes, such as in Oberstetten, Eichbühl, Zell an der Rot or in the pilgrimage church of Pfärrich near Wangen in the Allgäu . The Franciscan Sisters of Sießen and Reute Monastery were also among their clients. Due to her good reputation, the painter was commissioned in 1913 to create a life-size portrait of the Rottenburg bishop Paul Wilhelm von Keppler , which she mentioned in a letter to her sister-in-law. But this painting has never appeared anywhere; instead, a Keppler portrait of the painter Gebhard Fugel from 1915 hangs in the bishop's house in the bishops' gallery. Since there is a photo from 1912 that shows Maria Freudenreich in the garden of the bishop's palace , it is reasonable to assume that she was there too . Why the bishop later commissioned Gebhard Fugel remains unclear.

On the occasion of the 100th year of death, a working group of art lovers from Biberach and Ehingen researched and reviewed the life and work of Maria Freudenreich. From April 6 to May 25, 2014, an exhibition took place in the Ochsenhausen Monastery Museum, which was then shown from June 1 to July 13, 2014 in the Ehinger Museum. A small catalog was published for the exhibition with the title: The painter Maria Freudenreich. 1860-1914. Ehingen - Munich - Ochsenhausen.

literature

• Andrea Rexer, Christa Lauber, Uwe Degreif, Bodo Rüdenburg, Johannes Lang: The painter Maria Freudenreich. 1860–1914 - Ehingen - Munich - Ochsenhausen. Exhibition catalog. 2014, ISBN 978-3-940857-08-8 .

Web links

• Exhibition about painter Maria Freudenreich planned for 2014. on Ehinger Tagblatt. Südwest Presse, March 12, 2014.
• Christina Kirsch: Johannes Lang brings together the life of the painter Maria Freudenreich. on Ehinger Tagblatt. Südwest Presse, February 6, 2014.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Exhibition about painter Maria Freudenreich planned for 2014. on Ehinger Tagblatt. Southwest Press. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Exhibition about Maria Freudenreich in the monastery museum in Ochsenhausen. ( Memento of the original from May 21, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on more - City of Ochsenhausen. Retrieved May 13, 2014. 
3. ↑ ^{a b c} Johannes Lang summarizes the life of the painter Maria Freudenreich. on Ehinger Tagblatt. Southwest Press. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
4. ↑ Mariahilfbild in the St. Anna chapel, Zell an der Rot, parish Rot an der Rot; to the district of Biberach. Volume 2, Sigmaringen 1990, ISBN 3-7995-6186-2 , p. 619.
5. ^ Museum Society Ehingen eV - Museum Ehingen - City Archives Ehingen. Annual program 2014. ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. on Ehingen (Danube). Retrieved May 19, 2014. 
6. ^ Art and culture in the monastery. Maria Freudenreich - a forgotten artist is being rediscovered. ( Memento of the original from June 6, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. to the city of Ochsenhausen. Retrieved May 19, 2014.