Mary Warburg

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Pillar at the grave of the Warburg couple in the Ohlsdorf cemetery

Mary Warburg , née Hertz, (born October 13, 1866 in Hamburg ; † December 4, 1934 there ) was a German painter and sculptor .

Life

Mary Warburg was the daughter of the Hamburg senator and businessman Adolph Ferdinand Hertz and his wife Maria, née Goßler. She had one older and two younger brothers. From around the age of 16 she learned to draw and paint from Adolf Mosengel , Theobald Riefesell , Friedrich Schwinge and Hans von Bartels . From 1882 she often traveled with her father until she married the art historian Aby Warburg in 1897 . Together they went to Florence , where Mary Warburg created some works together with the sculptor Adolf Hildebrandt . During this time she exchanged letters with her mother, which can now be found in the Warburg Institute in London . After four years in the Tuscan city, Mary and Aby Warburg returned to Hamburg, where Mary Warburg worked with Georg Wrba for some time .

The Warburg couple had their children Marietta (1899–1973), Max Adolph (1902–1974) and Frede C. (1904–2004). A column in the Ohlsdorf cemetery , grave Y 10, 78–98, commemorates the Warburg couple . The family grave, the wall of which Mary Warburg created, can also be found there.

Act

While traveling with her father, Mary Warburg made many sketches of landscapes, local architecture and people, which she recorded in books. From around 1890 she also created graphics and worked as a sculptor and in the arts and crafts. She had probably received the suggestions for this from Alfred Lichtwark . Warburg belonged to the Society of Hamburg Art Friends founded by Lichtwark, in whose exhibitions she took part. In 1895 the association published its first yearbook, which mainly lists the works of the annual exhibition. Thirteen works by Mary Warburg are listed here under the categories of painting and sculpture.

Warburg also created moldings and vignettes. These can be seen in the first edition of The Great Grandparents Beetz from 1899 - a description of the history of the Hertz family. Further illustrations appeared in the youth magazine Pan and in the Hamburg Christmas Book of 1892.

After marrying Aby Warburg, Mary Warburg turned more to painting. During the years in Florence she drew a lot and gave away her works to friends and acquaintances in Hamburg. Later on, she clearly subordinated her artistic activities to her duties as wife and mother. Most of the works that she painted during this time, she created on the side and also while other people were in the room. Warburg mostly chose motifs from her family and her everyday life. For her paintings she used pencil, ink, pastel, watercolor and opaque colors or mixed techniques. They rarely use oil paints.

Her works as a sculptor included portrait heads as well as small and sometimes utility sculptures. From 1929 to 1934 she made a bronze bust of her deceased husband, which is probably her best-known work and can now be found in the reading room of the Warburg Institute. Other busts show friends and relatives of Mary Warburg, who were also models for her.

Mary Warburg's works can now be found on permanent loan in the Hamburger Kunsthalle .

literature

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Warburg, Mary
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Hertz, Mary (maiden name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION German painter and sculptor
DATE OF BIRTH October 13, 1866
PLACE OF BIRTH Hamburg
DATE OF DEATH 4th December 1934
Place of death Hamburg