Doramaria Purschian (July 6, 1890 – July 11, 1972) was a German artist known for her

Expressionist Expressionism is a modernist movement, initially in poetry and painting, originating in Northern Europe around the beginning of the 20th century. Its typical trait is to present the world solely from a subjective perspective, distorting it rad ...

landscapes, still lifes, and portraits.

Early life and education

She was born Ella Margaretha Maria Dora Purschian in Berlin, the daughter of Ernst Purschian, an engineer, and Gabriela Purschian. She studied art at the

Royal School of Art in Berlin The Royal School of Art in Berlin (''Königliche Kunstschule zu Berlin'') was a state-sponsored art school founded in 1869. The school was founded through its association with the Prussian Academy of Arts, and after unification stood as one of Be ...

, becoming one of the first women to complete an apprenticeship in the fine arts (the school did not admit women as full students until 1919). In 1909, she passed an exam to become a drawing teacher. She continued studying for several more years as a student of

Lovis Corinth Lovis Corinth (21 July 1858 – 17 July 1925) was a German artist and writer whose mature work as a painter and printmaker realized a synthesis of impressionism and expressionism. Corinth studied in Paris and Munich, joined the Berlin Sec ...

and Fritz Bürger. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, she served as a

Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure respect for all human beings, and ...

nurse.

Art career

Following the war, she pursued an independent career as a painter until 1930, specializing in portraits. She also made drawings and at least one etching. When her brother Frank died in 1939, she took over management of his company. In 1949, during the

Berlin Blockade The Berlin Blockade (24 June 1948 – 12 May 1949) was one of the first major international crises of the Cold War. During the multinational occupation of post–World War II Germany, the Soviet Union blocked the Western Allies' railway, ro ...

, she was the victim of a brutal robbery by the Gladow gang led by Werner Gladow. She never entirely recovered her health after this. After World War II, her work was exhibited more widely and consistently. She earned an honorable mention at the ''2nd Exhibition of European Painters in the United States'' (1969) and was appointed an honorary member of the Academy of Arts in Rome. She died in Berlin. A solo exhibition was mounted in Berlin in 1981.

References

Sources

This page is in part a translation from :de:Doramaria Purschian. Sources listed on that page include: * ''Reichskammer der bildenden Künste - Landesleitung Berlin''. Landesarchiv Berlin A Rep. 243–04, p. 306. * ''Käthe, Paula und der ganze Rest. Künstlerinnenlexikon''. Berlin: Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen, 1992, p. 132. . * ''Katalog zur Ausstellung "Fortsetzung folgt! 150 Jahre Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen"''. Berlin: Vice Versa Verlag, 2017, pp. 120–21. .

External links

Photo of Doramaria Purschian
{{DEFAULTSORT:Purschian, Doramaria 1890 births 1972 deaths Artists from Berlin Modern painters German Expressionist painters 20th-century German painters German women painters 20th-century German women artists