Cläre Neuhaus-Nissen, printmaker

Neuhaus-Nießen (Nissen), Cläre 

(Hannover 1878 – 1950 Olten)

I still know so little about this painter and printmaker and what follows is what I've puzzled together so far. I traced Cläre to the small town of Fürstenfeldbruck some 20 Km. east of Munich. Seeing the few prints I know by her I think I have a pretty good idea whom she turned to learning the art of woodblock print making: Dachau is not more them 15 km. from where she lived.  

Walter Klemm (1883-1957) and Carl Thiemann (1881-1966) in Dachau passed on their pioneering printmaking skills to numerous contemporary artist. 

She is mentioned as “die Malerin Cläre Nießen-Neuhaus” present at the founding meeting of the “Kunstverein Fürstenfeldbruck” in 1924. In Fürstenfeldbruck..

Fürstenfeldbruck in 1929

The picturesque village had become a refuge for artists fleeing overcrowded Munich. Also present at that meeting was Selma des Coudres (1883-1956) a painter also known to have tried at  woodblock printmaking and in a style betraying lessons by Carl Thiemann in Dachau too. We shall follow and trace Selma in next post bringing us to Riga in Latvia and meeting some more interesting artists. 

Proof of a trip to........ Italy, Dalmatia ?

Cläre (for Klara, Clara ?) exhibited, with others*, in 1915 in the “Wanderausstellung der Vereinigung nordwestdeutscher Künstler” in the Obernier Museum in Bonn: Cläre Neuhaus (München) showed “Alte Gasse”. I do not know which print that was but I do not think it is the ("mediterranean") one above. 

* One of them was Elisabeth (Else) Ruest (1861-1945) an painter-printmaker from Hannover known by several etchings showing the artist village of Schwalenberg near Detmold. She will also be shown in next posting.     

These two examples (Dachau moor landscapes ?) are clearly signed Cläre Neuhaus. The monogram she uses seems to be designed after Thiemans example. 

It can be difficult in Germany how to read a married girls name. Her families (maiden) name can be either placed before or after her husbands name. I have not yet found a rule explaining. Considering she was mentioned Neuhaus in 1915, Nissen-Neuhaus in 1924 and Neuhaus-Nissen in 1942 I guess she met and married a Mr. Nissen somewhere between 1915-1924. 

She is represented in the 1942 “Ausstellungskatalog der Großen Deutschen Kunstausstellung im Haus der Deutschen Kunst” in Munich with a painting: Cläre Neuhaus-Nissen, München:  Nr. 354 in room 4: “Sonneblumen, Öl”. 

"Haus der Deutsche Kunst" was the first of Adolph Hitlers prestigious and megalomane Nazi megastructures to open in 1937 showing to the Nation Nazi approved art. 

And although the surviving 1942 exhibition catalogue photograph wants us to believe it is painting 354a, showing a mixed bouquet, I really think it's the big one to the far left, 93a, showing some serious SUNFLOWERS ! Hitlers helpers bought works of art here for the proposed Nazi Museums. Cläre's Sunflowers were sold by the way btw.

"Somewhere, someone" wrote: 1932 in Dresden as her year of death and I'\m not sure if the 1942 Munich exhibition showed her work posthumously. She is not mentioned in any Artists Lexicon nor in my Dresslers Kunsthandbuch (1921 & 1930) other then mentioning her living in Fürstenfeldbruck Münchner-strasse 31 in 1930. 

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Please send anything (any scrap of information, fact or pictures that may contribute to better understanding the life and career of Cläre Neuhaus-Nissen for sharing in this Blog and to help complete my Pioneering German Women Printmakers Index. 

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