Dora Hitz (30 March 1856,

Altdorf bei Nürnberg Altdorf bei Nürnberg (, ) is a town in south-eastern Germany. It is situated 25 km east of Nuremberg, in the district Nürnberger Land. Its name literally means “Altdorf near Nuremberg”, to distinguish it from other Altdorfs. History A ...

- 20 November 1924, Berlin) was a

Court Painter A court painter was an artist who painted for the members of a royal or princely family, sometimes on a fixed salary and on an exclusive basis where the artist was not supposed to undertake other work. Painters were the most common, but the cour ...

to the Romanian Royal Family, a member of the November Group and co-founder of the

Berlin Secession The Berlin Secession was an art movement established in Germany on May 2, 1898. Formed in reaction to the Association of Berlin Artists, and the restrictions on contemporary art imposed by Kaiser Wilhelm II, 65 artists "seceded," demonstrating ag ...

Life

When she was six years old, her family moved to

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

and at thirteen she was sent to Munich to study at the "Damenmalschule der Frau Staatsrat Weber", an art school for young women, where she studied with Wilhelm von Lindenschmit the Younger. At the ''Art and Industrial Exhibition of 1876'', she met and became acquainted with

Elisabeth of Wied Pauline Elisabeth Ottilie Luise of Wied (29 December 18432 March 1916) was the first queen of Romania as the wife of King Carol I from 15 March 1881 to 27 September 1914. She had been the princess consort of Romania since her marriage to then- ...

, the

Queen consort of Romania Consorts of Romanian monarchs were persons married to the Romanian monarch during his reign. All monarchs of modern Romania were male with the title of King of the Romanians, but all Romanian consorts were women with the title of Queen of Romania ...

(perhaps better known under her literary name "Carmen Sylva"). As a result, Hitz was appointed as the Court Painter. In addition to oil paintings and book illustrations, she also created fresco murals in the Music Hall of

Peleș Castle Peleș Castle ( ro, Castelul Peleș ) is a Neo-Renaissance castle in the Carpathian Mountains, near Sinaia, in Prahova County, Romania, on an existing medieval route linking Transylvania and Wallachia, built between 1873 and 1914. Its inaugu ...

Sinaia Sinaia () is a town and a mountain resort in Prahova County, Romania. It is situated in the historical region of Muntenia. The town was named after the Sinaia Monastery of 1695, around which it was built. The monastery, in turn, is named aft ...

. After 1880, she lived in Paris, where she studied with

Luc-Olivier Merson Luc-Olivier Merson (21 May 1846 – 13 November 1920) was a French academic painter and illustrator also known for his postage stamp and currency designs. Biography Born Nicolas Luc-Olivier Merson in Paris, France, he grew up in an artist ...

Gustave Courtois Gustave-Claude-Étienne Courtois, also known as Gustave Courtois (; 18 May 1852 in Pusey, Haute-Saône – 1923 in Neuilly-sur-Seine) was a French painter, a representative of the academic style of art. Life Courtois was born 18 May 1852 i ...

Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant Jean-Joseph Benjamin-Constant (also known as Benjamin-Constant), born Jean-Joseph Constant (10 June 1845 – 26 May 1902), was a French painter and etcher best known for his Oriental subjects and portraits. Biography Benjamin-Constant was bor ...

and Eugène Carrière, who had the most influence on her style. She spent 1886/87 in Romania, then returned to Paris, becoming friends with Eugen Jettel and

Hermann Bahr Hermann Anastas Bahr (; 19 July 1863 – 15 January 1934) was an Austrian writer, playwright, director, and critic. Biography Born and raised in Linz, Bahr studied in Vienna, Graz, Czernowitz and Berlin, devoting special attention to philosophy, ...

.Hermann Bahr: Malerei. ''Die Zeit'', 10 (1897) #120, 44. (16 January 1897), als
Letters from Dora Hitz to Bahr
She travelled throughout

Brittany Brittany (; french: link=no, Bretagne ; br, Breizh, or ; Gallo: ''Bertaèyn'' ) is a peninsula, historical country and cultural area in the west of modern France, covering the western part of what was known as Armorica during the period ...

and

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

and, in 1890, became a member of the Salon of the

Société des Artistes Français The Société des Artistes Français (, meaning "Society of French Artists") is the association of French painters and sculptors established in 1881. Its annual exhibition is called the "Salon des artistes français" (not to be confused with the ...

. From 1892, she was a regular participant in the exhibitions of the

Société Nationale des Beaux Arts Lactalis is a French multinational dairy products corporation, owned by the Besnier family and based in Laval, Mayenne, France. The company's former name was Besnier SA. Lactalis is the largest dairy products group in the world, and is the sec ...

. Although she had been and would continue to be successful in Paris, she moved to Berlin in 1892 and joined the "Vereins Berliner Künstlerinnen und Kunstfreundinnen" (an association of female artists) that gave her access to many upper middle-class clients who commissioned portraits. She founded a women's art school in 1894, operated a studio and struck up a friendship with

Käthe Kollwitz Käthe Kollwitz ( born as Schmidt; 8 July 1867 – 22 April 1945) was a German artist who worked with painting, printmaking (including etching, lithography and woodcuts) and sculpture. Her most famous art cycles, including ''The Weavers'' and ' ...

. Hitz exhibited her work at the

Woman's Building The Woman's Building was a non-profit arts and education center located in Los Angeles, California. The Woman's Building focused on feminist art and served as a venue for the women's movement and was spearheaded by artist Judy Chicago, graphic de ...

at the 1893

World's Columbian Exposition The World's Columbian Exposition (also known as the Chicago World's Fair) was a world's fair held in Chicago in 1893 to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The centerpiece of the Fair, hel ...

in Chicago, Illinois. In 1898, she was one of the founding members of the

. She was awarded the

Villa Romana Prize The Villa Romana Prize, german: Villa-Romana-Preis, italic=no, is an art prize awarded by the Deutscher Künstlerbund. It was established in 1905 and is the oldest German art award. The prize consists of a one-year artistic residence in the ...

in 1906, which included a stipendium that enabled her to spend a year in

Florence Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany Regions of Italy, region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilan ...

. During World War I she began to experience financial difficulties, fell ill, and gradually became a recluse.

Selected paintings

Dora Hitz Weinernte.jpg, Grape Harvest Dora Hitz Dämmerung.jpg, Twilight Dora Hitz Der Maler Aman-Jean.jpg, Portrait of the painter

Edmond Aman-Jean Edmond Aman-Jean (13 January 1858, Chevry-Cossigny – 25 January 1936, Paris) was a French symbolist painter, who co-founded the Salon des Tuileries in 1923. Life His father was the owner and operator of an industrial lime kiln. He had h ...

File:Dora Hitz- Portrait of a girl - Gemäldegalerie.jpg, Portrait of a Girl Dora Hitz Der Blumenkelch.jpg, The Cauliflower

References

External links

ArtNet: More paintings by Hitz
* Dora Hitz in '' The Studio'', Vol.1

@ Google Books {{DEFAULTSORT:Hitz, Dora 1856 births 1924 deaths Impressionism German women painters German expatriates in Romania 19th-century German painters 20th-century German painters 19th-century German women artists 20th-century German women artists People from Altdorf bei Nürnberg

Life

Selected paintings

References

Further reading

External links