What has happened to Charlotte Rollius ? Trying to solve the mystery.

Charlotte Rollins

Charlotte, Confusion, Coincidences or Clues ?

Last week I received a most interesting email from American reader Melanie. She'd found the information shared in this Blog on the illusive printmaker and Emil Orlik student Charlotte Rollius/Rollins (here*). 

Melanie inherited (or came to own from the artists family) four oil paintings on wood panels. By Charlotte Rollins (signed Rollins not Rollius). With the email came also bits and pieces of information about the artist Charlotte Rollins. Which I now share here. 

  

Charlotte Rollins(!), the painter, had arrived in America in 1919 from France with a ship, the ships manifest mentioning her profession as: teacher. Melanie has information she came from Paris (or le Mans (Fr.) and was from a wealthy or well to do (elite) family background. Shortly after arriving in the US in 1919 she  had married a Hugh Rollins(!). They had a daughter Jacqulene Rollins and lived in Ohio. In 1923 Charlotte traveled with her daughter Jacqulene/Jacqueline for three months to France. This Charlotte Rollins was born 1892.

Melanie states: "in december 1923 Emil Orlik was in Ohio on a two months stay for a private portrait sitting".....  

Still life  by Emil Orlik (1870-1932) 

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Charlotte Rollius

was a Student of Emil Orlik (1870-1932) and worked closely with him on a work of art (woodblock print).

She is mentioned studying and working in Berlin 1905-1908 and 1910.

In 1912 (and 1913) she is mentioned, as Charlotte Rollius, in newspapers and exhibition catalogues in America concerning a large (traveling ?) exhibition with many great German artists (read the earlier blog-article).

In 1930 Charlotte Rollius is mentioned with the description of a print in a Chicago School Artists Society publication (which is confusing but it may concern a print created before her marriage.....)  

 

What if:

Charlotte Rollius (the Berlin artist and Orlik's student) immigrated to America in 1919 and married a Hugh Rollins in New York.

What if Charlotte Rollins/Rollius and Emil Orlik (1870-1932) had kept contact with het teacher, maybe meeting in Paris and maybe resulting in Orlik's 1923 American trip (could they have travelled together ?)

In that case Malcolm Salaman' s referral/critic in his book "the Art of the Woodcut" of a woodcut by "Charlotte Rollins" could after all be correct because of her marriage in 1919 to Hugh Rollins.  

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Publication of these puzzling pieces in the Internet hopefully will result in solving the biography of Charlotte Rollius/Rollins. Eventually. All your help is very welcomed.

My New Web Gallery on line

Today the transfer of all prints and other collectable items from my former Galerie Souris was successfully completed to my new online Website:

Galerie Ondine

www.galerieondine.com

Named after the germanic goddess of waves and seashore, cousin of the greek Naïads, goddesses of streams and brooks, daughters of Zeuss. Inspiration to artists, painters, composers, designers etc...  

Gallery Logo after a painting by German-British painter Harold Bengen (1879-1962)

Clotilde Schilling: what's in name ?

Clotilde Schilling

(1858 - 1934) 

German painter 

Clotilde (as German as a name can be as if it was taken from a Wagner Opera) Schilling was the daughter of Johannes Schilling (1828-1910). A celebrated son of Dresden, a famous sculptor. Read about him (here*)

I stumbled over Clotilde (1858-1934) trying to identify the printmaker of the two prints in before posting (read here*). 

Clotilde's grave, and that of  Alexandra Schilling (1855-1936) in Dresden is adorned by a wonderful sculpture no doubt created (designed) by her sculptor father when she was young (there is a mentioning of this in Johannes' biography) Clotilde is not mentioned in her father's biography in the prestigious "Deutsche Biografie" (read here*). Unless her "official" name was Catharina Susanna. (Curious: Johannes married in 1857 so what about Alexandra born in 1855 joining Clotilde in eternity ?)

Clotilde is an artist-painter represented by just one painting (above) in the Internet while her brother Rudolf Schilling (1859-1933) has left proof of his successful career all over Dresden. He became a highly successful architect (read here*). (Below)

Clotilde Schilling exhibited in Dresden in 1904. She was organized and acquainted with art-sisters Bertha Schrader (1845-1920) a painter-printmaker I've met not long ago and honored with a posting (here*), and with graphic artist Doris am Ende (1857-1944). (both below)

Martin Erich Philipp studied and started his successful printmaking career in Dresden from 1913. So there are possible clues to Clotilde trying at printmaking. Her signature however has little similarity with the handwriting on the prints. 

Possibly the best known sibling of Johannes Schilling is his youngest daughter  Clara Elisabeth (1864-1913). She stood model for Germania, the symbol of Germany United. A huge and colossal monument overlooking the Rhine near  Rüdesheim created by her father.  

It was build commemorating the unification of Germany and the ending of the Franco-German war (1870-71). Ordered by the first Kaiser, Wilhelm-I himself, and his chief: Reichskanzler Otto von Bismarck. It's construction was completed in 1883. 

Germania to Germany is what Marianne is to France. Here (below), created a decade later in 1899 by Aime Jules Dalou (1838-1902), a French colleague of Johannes Schilling. It is located in the Place de la Nation in Paris.

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

Schilling, unidentified printmaker

N.N. Schilling 

(unknown German printmaker)

The reason to investigate the name Schilling (before postings) was to try to identify the printmaker of these two woodblock prints known to me and signed "Schilling". 

Bertha Schilling (1870-1953) could be the printmaker, she was in Berlin to study: at the right time and at the right place". She'd studied with graphic artist Hans Baluschek (1870-1935), attended the painting school for women where Käthe Kollwitz (1867-1945) and Else Schmiedeberg (1867- after 1927) taught and Emil Orlik (1870-1932) was nearby. 

At least one graphic work by her I was able to trace, this etching:

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Comparing the signatures (and handwriting) however it seems likely there was a third (unknown) artist with this name involved in making these prints.

I also stumbled over:

Schilling, Clothilde (1856 Altenburg-1934 Dresden) a hardly known painter working in Dresden and daughter of famous Dresden sculptor Johannes Schilling (1828-1910) 

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

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.   

Ida Schilling-Hacke, who was she ?

Ida Schilling-Hacke

(born 1875 in Aurich - after 1942)

Forgotten German painter, 
living in Torgau near Leipzig. 

This posting (and the next two) was composed after stumbling over this water colored quick pencil sketch, probably created in a minute. I sincerely hope it will eventually lead to reactions by readers.

A quick investigations revealing only a handful of paintings by Ida Schilling-Hacke showing a skilled artist with a fine pallet.  

"Herrgottswinkel" (Lord Jesus corner) in a farmers cottage,

a traditional catholic domestic place of worship. The wonderful traditional blue-ish greens of Ida's painting reminded me of this fine German color woodblock print on wove paper (below). 

 Church interior 

Ida Schilling-Hacke is not mentioned in the great Artists Lexicons Benezit, Thieme-Becker or Vollmer but she has a reference in Dressler Kunsthandbuch mentioning 32.000 living in the 1920's artists, art historians, editors, researchers etc. Last edition: 1930. 

According to Dressler she'd studied in Munich, was a member of the "Reichsverband Bildende Künstler Deutschlands" and the "Künstlerinnenverein München". She was active around in 1930 in Torgau an der Elbe. Which is near Leipzig (see below *)  

Ida Schilling- Hacke took part in the 1940-1942 "Münchner Kunstausstellung" in the Maximilianeum in Munich and also in the "Grosse Münchner Kunstausstellung in the Neue Pinakothek (thank you Maximilian Baron von Koskull in Heubach)

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Some genealogical data concerning regionally mentioned Hacke family members. 

From 1868-1886 a "Fritz" (Georg Friedrich Konrad) Hacke (b. 1842 Bentheim - 1922) lived and probably started his career as a solicitor and notary in Aurich (Ost-Friesland). He is a "possible" candidate as Ida's father: right place right time. 

From 1890-1893 Fritz Hacke was a German "Reichstag Mittglied" (member of Parliament) and he later moved to Leipzig (*). Which is "convenient" for a possible family tie considering Ida's later mentioned residence of Torgau.  

In 1820 a Friedrich Konrad Hacke was mayor of Bentheim, an editor and book printer. Maybe Fritz (grand)father ?

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All help (art-historical, genealogical etc..) that may illuminate the life and career of Ida Hacke (Schilling-Hacke) would be very much appreciated. 

Next: 

Bertha Schilling (1870-1953), Berlin trained painter in the Fischerhude artist colony.

N.N. Schilling, 2 lovely color woodblocks by an unknown printmaker. 

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

       

Travemünde Hafen, Segelkutter und Leuchtturm.

Travemünde Harbor and Old Lighthouse  

Resuming more regular posting in this Blog after a period of retreat and  contemplation I'ld like to share this recent find. A rather nice woodblock print showing a resting to a mooring pole sailing vessel ("Ostee-kutter", Baltic cutter ?) in a harbor with a rather characteristic lighthouse. Googling I could find three lighthouses more or less of this type: Terschelling (Netherlands), Borkum and Travemünde (below).

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A printmaker signing, E. Schott, Scholl, Schoff (?) is not represented in my archives. The ship resembles prints of traditional Baltic sailing ships by Daniël Staschus (1872-1953) a printmaker, with his wife Paula associated with the Nidden artist colony near Königsberg some 500 km. to the east. 

The harbor and lighthouse obviously show Travemünde ("mouth of river Trave") gateway to the old and important city of Lübeck some 17 km. upriver to the West, and the Baltic sea. The old Lighthouse close to the shore and the magnificent tree behind, the buildings and even the mooring poles matching perfectly. 

MS Queen Mary II visiting Travemünde.

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Travemünde and it's harbor have been the love and inspiration of painter Ulrich Hübner (1872-1932), the Berlin secessionist who also lived in the village and whom I've met before in postings on artist Fanny Remak (here*). 

Hübner probably painted every mile of this very picturesque place, the lighthouse which of course cannot be missed in every almost any view. He created numerous paintings of this part of the estuary, the harbour entrance with it's freighters, fishermen, travellers, ferries, piers and baltic fleet of traders and sailing boats. 

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Researching this print I stumbled over one Otto Schoff (1884-1938) an Emil Orlik student in Berlin, a graphic artist who is mainly known and remembered for his (homo)erotic drawings and etchings. Some are really nice and some very "explicit". 

Otto Schoff also seemed to have been involved in the world of sailing and sailors. Although he studied with Emil Orlik (he could have been studying other graphic techniques besides woodblock printmaking) I could find no records or examples of any activity engaged with woodblock printmaking. He was born in Bremen and studied in the "Kunst und Gewerbeschule" (Arts and Craft School) in Bremen, then Berlin and Paris (with George Grosz, who also had been  as student of Orlik and who was also very much in drawing "specific human behavior" like Schoff).  

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If readers have any idea about the identity of the Travemünde printmaker, Scholl, Schott or Schoff, please let me know.  

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