Saturday 25 October 2014

Barbara Popp: printmaker with Romanian ancestors ?

Barbara Popp
(Munich 1890 - last mentioned in 1933 Hamburg
German Painter and Printmaker 



Although Barbara Popp is mentioned a painter in Thieme-Becker's Lexicon I've never seen a single painting by this artist. She's on my "research" list(*): born before 1900 and active with printmaking. Nor could I find her "last mentioning" in 1933). Here's the result of my excavations.


Over the years regularly woodblock prints by Barbara Popp have turned up, almost all showing idyllic thatched dwellings. And there're two landscapes with birches, probably the Lüneburgerheide, South of Hamburg. You immediately recognize her personal style. And she's great with shadows, in every print she's playing with the trees and shadows on the white walls. 

They all seem to be printed on not the best paper. Lack of money perhaps or is it depression paper? Mine is and it is resembling the gray/brownish paper images from all the auction-house and Ebay samples I've seen.

Barbara was born in Münich in 1890 at he time her father Jon Popp (Hamburg 1862 - 1953 Hamburg) studied in the Vienna Fine Art Academy (1884-1891) under Hermann Kaulbach (1846-1909), Ludwig Herterich (1856-1932) and Karl Raupp (1937-1918) and later in Paris 1903. He was active in Bukarest and in Hamburg from 1919. Just once I found this reference of father and daughter.


Jon Popp specialized in animals (horses) and travelled to the Orient (Turkey) which can be seen in many of his paintings with fierce men riding horses and portraits of clan chiefs. His relationship with the Oriënt can possibly be explained by the following artists I've found: 


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Ioan Popp Moldovan de Galati (1774-1869) was a Romanian painter and muralist. He and his wife Elena Ivan (1783-1867) had eight children. The last born was Misu Popp (Brasov 19-03-1827 - 06-03-1892 Brasov) who, encouraged by his father, studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna until 1848 developing a serious academic style and became a rather famous portrait painter.  

Self portrait and portraits of his father Ioan and mother Elena by Miso Popp
It could be possible Jon Popp and his printmaking daughter Barbara  descent from this artistic Romanian family. 

I also found Carol Popp (1812-1887) a Romanian painter and considered the worlds first War-photographer (Crimean war 1854-56) but I have no idea about his relationship to the above family) 

(*) My list of German women artists, born before 1900 and active with woodblock printmaking of which I am trying to compose the biographies now counting over 150 namens, regularly discovering new facts and sometimes new printmakers.

Sharing my findings and knowledge, every addition, new detail, new examples of prints and any help will be much appreciated.  


All pictures are mouse clickable to embiggen.

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

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