Eva Roemer

(This posting has been extended and updated July 29th, August 3th and Sept. 16th)

Eva Roemer 

(1889-1977)

German painter and woodblock printer 

Great grand-daughter of Fanny Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.

Fanny Mendelssohn-Bartholdy,
Eva's great-grandmother.

Sharing some wonderful new finds I continue and humbly "re-blog” some of Clive’s (Art and the Aesthete) text. All is said here about Eva Roemer’s artistic qualities, and there’s really nothing I could add besides concluding, according to the genealogy, Eva Roemer probably never married and that she favoured the color blue.

"Eva Roemer was an exceptionally talented artist who specialized in woodblock printing, although she also had a great deal of success in her native Germany with paintings. She was a native of Berlin who came from a very successful artistic background. 

Her father was the sculptor Bernardt (Willhelm Erdmann)  Roemer (also Römer, 1852-1891) who exhibited widely in the salons of Germany and Austria. Eva was a student in both Berlin and later in Hamburg. She traveled throughout Italy, and Holland as well as extensive travels throughout the U.S., however it was the Asian influences that I think I had such a longterm effect on her artistic output. 

Frühlingabend am Badansee (see below)

Her woodblock prints have a softness that I particularly like, and despite the softness her works have a strength of imagery. Her landscapes utilize the classic Japanese composition and aesthetic, which I love. There is a near smokiness to her watercolor images because of the use, and the end result is wonderful".

So far for Clive's text and pictures.
The tree on the lake print is called "Fruhlingsabend am Badansee". Probably (most likely) this should read Badinsee, or Lake Badin in Carolina USA. It was constructed in 1917 and hopefully this would fit with Eva's alledged travels in the USA.

Here is some new found information and some new examples of her woodblock prints. And I recently discovered Eva Roemer was the great-granddaughter of Fanny Mendelssohn Bartholdy (1805-1847) the favorite older sister of composer, pianist, organist etc... Felix (1809-1947). Fanny herself an acknowledged pianist and composer.

Fanny  Mendelssohn 
and Wilhelm Hensel

Fanny Mendelsohn-Bartholdy married painter to the Imperial Prussian court Wilhelm Hensel (1794-1861). He painted his famous brother in law (below).

Their son Sebastian Ludwig Felix Hensel (1830-1898), entrepreneur and landowner was born in Königsberg, Prussia (now Kaliningrad).

Felix Mendelssohn-Barholdy
 by his brother in law Wilhelm Hensel

He was the father of Fanny Hensel (1857-1891) who married sculptor Bernardt Willhelm Erdmann Roemer (or Römer, above), Eva’s father. Fanny’s brother Kurt Hensel (1861-1941), Eva’s uncle, was an important German mathematician. 

Eva’s sister Ilse Roemer (1887-1954) married archeology professor Fritz Weege (1880-1945).

Statue by Bernardt Roemer
Eva's father
the only example of his work  I could find.

During the 19^th and early 20^th century universities and schools of Germany were littered with learned men, professors, bankers and artists all descendants of important, enlightened, fertile  and prolific German philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729-1786), Felix and Fanny's grand-father. Son of Mendel Dessau, hence the "Mendels'sohn" family name

Moses Mendelssohn (1727-1786)

Indeed a very successful, artistic, influential and interesting family that rose to great heights from a very poor Jewish Torah-scroll writer namend Mendel Dessau, living around 1720 in Dessau.  

These 3 lake side prints seem to have been composed from the same viewpoint and obviously belonged together. 
With thanks to:

Thomas Treibig in Berlin, who has on offer these last three land/lakescape prints (with some glass reflections) by Eva Roemer in his Gallerie "Schöne Dinge": http://schoene-dinge-berlin.de/ and from whom's stock and collection I shall reveal some more great and unknown prints shortly.

Clive Christie (Art and the Aesthete): http://www.clivechristy.com/2009/10/eva-roemer-1889-1977.html


Two pictures (Flowers and Frühlings-abend am Badinsee are from) 

http://www.paramourfinearts.com/list_works.asp?id=621