Charlotte Hilmer, Iris Blossom, 1955, Oil on Canvas

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Charlotte Hilmer
1909 Hamburg – 1958 (suicide) ibid.

"Blossom"
Watercolor on Ingres paper ("Hahnemühle") ---unframed---
Verso: Signature stamp, 1955 [dated … Read more Charlotte Hilmer
1909 Hamburg – 1958 (suicide) ibid.

"Blossom"
Watercolor on Ingres paper ("Hahnemühle") ---unframed---
Verso: Signature stamp, 1955 [dated as shown on the black and white photograph from the artist's estate]
Size: 62.5 x 48.5 cm

The watercolor is documented in a black and white photograph from the artist's estate (see illustration). It is a preparatory study for the painting "Iris Blossom" (1955/56, see illustration).

Charlotte Hilmer's oeuvre includes "blossom and flower paintings in luminous colors, landscapes with circling suns in flowing lines, figure paintings in statuesque stillness, archaic feminine primal forms" (Maike Bruhns, [1]).

The present watercolor is such a flower painting "in luminous colors." This is likely a work related to the painting "Iris Blossom" (1955/56), although the format alone goes far beyond the mere sketch and points to an independent composition of astonishingly high abstraction. The strong colors, broad brushstrokes, and overall formal and chromatic reduction to the essential are quite typical.

Hugo Sieker wrote the following about the flower paintings in his text for the exhibition "The Last Pictures" (Kunsthalle Hamburg, 1958): "In other studies and oil paintings, Charlotte Hilmer attempts to capture the essence of blossoms and flowers. These are no longer delicate creations of decorative appeal, but rather, with their almost architectural form and their dance-like gestures, they express their true life."

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[1] Maike Bruhns (2013): Charlotte Hilmer, in: Familie Kay Rump (ed.): Der neue Rump. Lexicon of Visual Artists of Hamburg (revised by Maike Bruhns); Wachholtz; Neumünster – Hamburg; p. 198.

[2] Hugo Sieker: Charlotte Hilmer 1909–1958, in: Galerie Herold (1999): Charlotte Hilmer. 1909–1958, Hamburg, pp. 5–6 [here: 6].

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Charlotte Hilmer
Painter, draughtswoman, printmaker.

Wife of the artist Arnold Hilmer (1908 Hamburg – 1993 ibid.).

1928-29 Studied at the Hamburg State School of Art

1929-30 Studied at the Königsberg Academy of Art

1930-33 Studied at the Stuttgart Academy of Art

Charlotte Hilmer's work includes "flower and blossom paintings in luminous colors, landscapes with circling suns in flowing lines, figure paintings in statuesque stillness, and archaic, feminine primal forms" (Maike Bruhns).

Solo Exhibitions:

1939 She had a studio exhibition in Hamburg with her husband

1950, 1953, 1955 Voksheim Cultural Association, Hamburg

1956 Museum of Ethnology, Hamburg (together with Arnold Hilmer)

1958 Hamburger Kunsthalle

1960 Märkisches Museum, Witten

1964 Hanna Bekker vom Rath Art Gallery, Frankfurt am Main M.

1999 Galerie Herold, Hamburg (with Arnold Hilmer)

Collections:
Hamburger Kunsthalle
Collection of the Hamburger Sparkasse
Collection of Dr. Maike Bruhns, Hamburg
Märkisches Museum, Witten This piece has an attribution mark,
I am sure that it is completely authentic and take full responsibility for any authenticity
issues arising from misattribution See less