Thursday 1 May 2014

Margot von Schlotheim: Obscure but not forgotten. A convocation

A convocation .....

Sharing an obscure and forgotten printmaker is a fine opportunity to give readers of this Blog an impression of what I've been busy with for the last couple of years. Margot von Schlotheim is just one of the entries in a proposed publication concerning a group of 160 German women artists born between 1860 and 1900 and who were professionally active pioneering with color woodblock printmaking between 1900 and 1935. Only a few of them reached fame, many of them enjoyed appreciation but most of them stayed relatively unknown and are today known and remembered by a few prints only, like:


Margot von Schlotheim–von Wentsky und Petersheyde
    (Kreuzburg-Prussia/Poland  Jan. 24th - 1884 / May 9th - 1974 Hofgeismar)

Known (to this day) by three small prints showing animals. She was the daughter of Major-General Albin von Wentsky und Petersheyde (1860-1917) and Gabrielle Freiherrin Von Hoverback genannt von Schoenach. Her fathers grandfather Albin (1804-1849) was a friend of composer Robert Schumann (1810-1856)She married landowner Freiherr (Baron) Friedrich Hartmann von Schlotheim (1881-1966) in Breslau in 1909 and the couple had three sons. Her prints have  some resemblance  to the animal/zoo prints made by printmaker Fritz Lang (1877-1961) in Stuttgart and Ludwig Jungnickel (1881-1965) in Vienna.   

You can help me with sending biographical or genealogical facts and pictures of prints of the women I've listed here*. I've recently completed with the help of my friend James in Glasgow the résumé biographies of these 160 artists, the result of my ongoing research, still discovering and adding new artists, newly discovered prints and facts almost every day. Much has been achieved yet, you'll be surprised, but there are several artists who's lives and careers are still, so very undeservedly, a complete mysterie. With your help we can try to chance that.
    

The ultimate goal is a publication, a book, an Ebook or: a Liber Amicorum (a  limited edition book for friends or subscribers only) with the many many hundreds of examples and pictures of prints and facts from the archive that I've build over many years of collecting and researching, writing to museums, galleries, exhibitions, auction houses and archives and ploughing through the Internet, magazines and reference books and with material send to me by collectors, readers and other enthousiasts.  
    

Scroll down the index/list of artists and you'll find some examples of the biographies (in German: kurz-Biographiën) as the result of the work in progress. Digital cross-referencing the biographies bringing remarkable facts to light like shared schools, courses, teachers, professors etc.. 


www.galeriesouris.nl

All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.

2 comments:

  1. My goodness, you've been busy, Gerrie. A much-needed book. Have you contacted a university press in Germany? Or an art foundation for funding? It will be a wonderful book.

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    1. Hello Karen, yes I've been very busy. It's a dangerous combination when the passionate collector meets the incurable investigator. I can use all suggestions what to do with all the material. I'm a bit worried about the copyright although I have no commercial intentions. There is a renewed interest in women artists in that period. I shall write a quick posting about recent activity and publications concerning.
      Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

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