Friday 17 July 2015

Bertha Schilling: Junge Wilde !

Bertha Schilling
(1870 Arnsberg - 1953 Fisherhude)
German painter in Fisherhude* Artist Colony.

Second posting following the artist name Schilling


Namesake and contemporary colleague of Ida Schilling-Hacke (1875- after 1930) in before post. Born in a well-to-do environment and stimulated by her father pursuing  an artistic career she studied in Berlin with painter and graphic artist Hans Baluchek (1870-1935), Karl Wendel (1878-1943) and George Mosson (1851-1933) the French-German painter and teacher whom we met living in Nollendorfplatz in Berlin (see the Fanny Remak postings (here*). 



Baluchek and Mosson with Max Liebermann, Lovis Corinth, Max Slevogt, Paul Casirer etc.. representing the Berlin Secessionist movement. 


When Otto Modersohn (1865-1943) left Worpswede for Fisherhude around 1907, after the tragic death of his wife Paula, he was to become the Godfather of several young painters who choose this little town as their own. They were called "die Junge Wilde" (the young wild ones). 


Scratching together examples of Bertha Schillings delightful modern, colorful and bright paintings, reflecting the light of summer and inspired by the Barbizon painters and van Gogh, one can fully understand the knickname. 


Bertha Schilling entered the village of Fisherhude* (situated some 30 Km east of Bremen and 30 Km south of Worpswede) in 1911 to stay. She build her own home and studio (below), had a successful and independent career as a painter selling much appreciated paintings for "a fraction of the cost of a Modersohn", played the local church organ and never married. 


In Fisherhude I also met August Haake (1889-1915), the talented painter, also very much under the influence of Vincent van Gogh arriving in the village around the same time with Bertha Schilling. He sadly died aged 25 from lead-poisening habitually wetting his brushes with his mouth and thus contacting the poisonous lead-white paint.




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

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