Martha Pfannenschmid

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Martha Pfannenschmid on the occasion of her 90th birthday in the Basel University Library

Martha Pfannenschmid (born March 22, 1900 in Basel ; † March 27, 1999 there ) was a Swiss illustrator . The employed secretary , laboratory assistant and technical assistant at the Institute for Forensic Medicine at the University of Basel became known for her illustrations for the children's books Heidi and Pinocchio .

biography

Childhood, career and family background

Martha Pfannenschmid was born on March 22, 1900 in Basel and spent her childhood, adolescence and most of her adult life in this city. Her mother was Ida, née Tschumi, from Wolfisberg , Canton Bern. Her father Amadeus Rudolf Pfannenschmid came from an old Basler family and worked for the finance department of the canton of Basel-Stadt . He was the son of a well-known Basel frame maker and gilder. He stayed at Nymphenburg Palace at a young age , as the Bavarian king admired his Basel drumming skills. Martha Pfannenschmid's sister, Ida Helene, who was two years older, died of diphtheria in 1905 . Her brother Rudolf was born shortly afterwards. After her father's death in 1923, who drowned himself in the Rhine, her mother married two more times, which put a strain on the relationship between mother and daughter. The family remained life in their community center at the Dead dance, at the end of the flower Rains, resident.

Pfannenschmid developed a talent for drawing and painting at an early age, in which she was supported by her father. She attended the general trade school in Basel and received training in graphics, art and modeling classes. Then she also specialized in microscopic drawing at the University's Zoological Institute with Adolf Portmann . In the course of her training, she completed a long study visit to Tuscany , which also influenced her later illustrations. There she lived with a country pastor and his cook and received scenic and artistic impressions.

She was supported and stimulated by friendships with painters such as Fred Stauffer , Werner Neuhaus and Niklaus Stöcklin and his wife and daughter. She was interested in the poetic, humanities and natural science works of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Rudolf Steiner . She sketched theatrical performances that were staged at the Goetheanum in Dornach. At the same time, she felt closely connected to Basel and made sketches of the Basel Carnival and schnitzel banks . Close references to her hometown Basel can also be seen in her later illustrations.

Pfannenschmid's works have been shown at various exhibitions in Switzerland and abroad, including in the Kunsthalle Basel and in Basel galleries. On her 80th birthday in 1980 they were exhibited in the Münsterberg Gallery and on the occasion of her 90th birthday in 1990 in the Basel University Library . The University Library of Basel showed their illustrations for the children's books Heidi and Pinocchio . These and other works can be found in the part of her estate that is kept in the university library. The Society for the Good and the Charitable (GGG) also manages part of the artist's estate, as Pfannenschmid appreciated the commitment and open-mindedness that the GGG showed towards artists. Other works by Pfannenschmid are in public ownership, in collections of larger commercial enterprises and with private individuals. Martha Pfannenschmid died on March 27, 1999 in the Adullam retirement and nursing home in Basel. She was a member of the Society of Swiss Women Painters, Sculptors and Craftsmen (GSMBK) and the Society of Swiss Painters, Sculptors and Architects (GSMBA).

Worked for the Institute of Legal Medicine at the University of Basel

From 1923 to 1960 Pfannenschmid was employed at various medical institutes in Basel as a secretary, laboratory assistant and technical assistant. She was only able to practice her trained profession as a painter and book illustrator on weekends or during holidays. Only after her retirement did Pfannenschmid work as a freelance artist. Her work for the Forensic Medicine Institute of the University of Basel was exact reproductions of microscopic and macroscopic conditions. Pfannenschmid made drawings and sketches of medicinal and poisonous plants as well as autopsies .

During her time at the Forensic Medicine Institute, Pfannenschmid created lecture boards in the size of a wall picture (approx. 1.50 × 3.50 m), which were presented to the students to teach the basics of forensic medicine . These vividly document the knowledge of forensic medicine in the 1950s. The spectrum of the total of 53 teaching boards ranges from blunt and sharp violence, traffic accidents, bullet holes, death from electrical energy, burning, poisoning, drowning or hanging, infanticide and abortion to blood samples, traces of blood, death spots, coagulation, vasoconstriction, spermatozoa and alcohol content in the blood and conveying the structure of an expert opinion to be prepared. One focus was on violent deaths, their recognition and their interpretation. The images are taken from the standard forensic medicine by Alfred Ponsold , Textbook of Forensic Medicine (Stuttgart 1950), and Berthold Müller , Forensic Medicine (Berlin / Göttingen / Heidelberg 1953). The schematic representations can avoid the flood of information from photographic recordings, and ideal cases instead of individual cases can be dealt with in lessons. In 2011, the teaching boards were digitally restored by Thomas Rost, head taxidermist at the Institute for Forensic Medicine. Today they are in the collection of the institute in Basel. Pfannenschmid drew microscopic specimens for the Pathological Institute of the University of Basel that were reproduced in textbooks. The requirements in forensic medicine included the analytical recording of structures, the implementation of temporal processes on the surface and the ability to show cause and effect in quickly recognizable images. Pfannenschmid not only recognized a source of income in her work at the institute, but also valued it as an opportunity for permanent further development of her artistic skills.

During the time when Pfannenschmid was employed at the Forensic Medicine Institute, the trial with the controversial verdict against the Geneva lawyer and politician Pierre Jaccoud took place . In 1960 he was sentenced to seven years in prison for simple manslaughter against Charles Zumbach . The Forensic Medicine Institute Basel was involved in the preparation of the report. Pfannenschmid was commissioned to make various sketches. The (later questioned) report was drawn up by Professor Erik Undritz from Basel .

Illustrations

As a trained draftswoman and book illustrator, Martha Pfannenschmid is responsible for a number of illustrations for various publications and children's books. From 1929 to 1951, she illustrated the national newspaper's children 's supplement , Der kleine Nazi , which is largely preserved in her estate. She also made illustrations for the Swiss observer , the Guten Schriften , which Johanna Spyri's works published, and the Bern / Zofingen radio newspapers . She was also artistically active for the Swiss Youth Works . In 1940 she started working with the Silva-Bilderdienst Zürich. From 1939 to 1945 she illustrated Johanna Spyris Heidi novels, Moni the goat boy and other stories for this. In Heidi , Pfannenschmid's illustrations are delicately watercolored. In the Southeast Asian region, 50,000 copies were reprinted due to the great demand.

Following the Heidi books, Pfannenschmid illustrated the children's story Pinocchio by the Italian writer Carlo Collodi from 1963 to 1968 . In these images, a lightening of the color palette and an increase in expression can be seen. The images for Heidi and Pinocchio are drawn on a small format (16 × 12.5 cm) in order to be able to print them in their original size to preserve the quality. For the Heidi pictures, she carried out various studies of the Alpine region and referred to sketches that were made in the Heimatmuseum Chur and in Basel - which served as a template for Frankfurt. The memory of her sister Ida Helene, who died early, served as a template for Klara, Heidi's friend. For the illustrations for Pinocchio , Pfannenschmid drew on drawings she had made in Italy, studies from Basel, sketches of the zoological garden and the aquarium, and sketches of the evening sky over the Vosges . The illustrations contain exact representations of plants. In 1949, Pfannenschmid made ten large-format watercolors of plants on behalf of the publication The Swiss National Park , which was also published by the Silva-Bilderdienst. Pfannenschmid's estate also includes illustrations, watercolors and layout instructions for picture books that were not executed.

Pfannenschmid found inspiration for her illustrations in artists such as Konrad Witz , Andrea Mantegna , El Greco , Francisco de Goya , Rembrandt , Vincent van Gogh and in artists with a penchant for caricatures such as Wilhelm Busch , Honoré Daumier and Carl Spitzweg . Pfannenschmid's form of expression is harmonious in content, composition and color, and the composition of the picture is always based on a geometric structure. The colors are often used in complementary interplay and liven up the shapes. Pfannenschmid's interest was in the movement of bodies in light and space. Your last pictures are penetrated by intense light and characterized by lively, fresh colors.

Web links

Notes and individual references

  1. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283: E2.
  2. ↑ In the 1950s, abortion and attempted abortion were criminal offenses. Abortion has only been legal in Switzerland in the first twelve weeks of pregnancy since 2002.
  3. ↑ The illustrator Martha Pfannenschmid and her forensic medicine lectures. Website of the University of Basel, accessed on December 13, 2016.
  4. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283: E2.
  5. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283 (Pinocchio).
  6. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283: E2.
  7. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283 (Pinocchio).
  8. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283 (Pinocchio).
  9. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283: E2.
  10. ↑ Basel University Library, Manuscript Department. SIGN .: NL 283: E2.
personal data
SURNAME Pan smith, Martha
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Swiss illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH March 22, 1900
PLACE OF BIRTH Basel
DATE OF DEATH March 27, 1999
Place of death Basel