Charlotte Wankel (12 May 1888 – 2 August 1969) was a Norwegian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

regarded as one of the first Norwegian

cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement which began in Paris. It revolutionized painting and the visual arts, and sparked artistic innovations in music, ballet, literature, and architecture. Cubist subjects are analyzed, broke ...

and painters of

abstract art Abstract art uses visual language of shape, form, color and line to create a Composition (visual arts), composition which may exist with a degree of independence from visual references in the world. ''Abstract art'', ''non-figurative art'', ''non- ...

Biography

Wankel was raised by wealthy parents at the Kambo estate outside

Moss Mosses are small, non-vascular plant, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic phylum, division Bryophyta (, ) ''sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Wilhelm Philippe Schimper, Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryo ...

, in

Østfold Østfold () is a county in Eastern Norway, which from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2023 was part of Viken. Østfold borders Akershus and southwestern Sweden (Västra Götaland County and Värmland), while Buskerud and Vestfold are on the other ...

county, Norway. Her father

Georg Reinholdt Wankel Georg Reinholdt Wankel (12 January 1843 – 1 February 1907) was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Party. He was born in Moss, Norway, Moss as the son of German-born engineer Ignatz Wankel (1806–1881) and ...

was a Norwegian politician for the Conservative Party. Her mother was the noted author Sigrid Ring (1870–1955), who was a granddaughter of Norwegian politician

Paul Vinsnes Paul Vinsnes (18 October 1794 – 23 August 1889) was a Norwegian priest and politician. Biography Vinsnes was born in Drammen in Buskerud, Norway. He was the son of Johan Fredrik Winsnes (1768–1838) and his wife Barbara Holm (1774–1828). Hi ...

. After his father died in 1907, the family moved to Christiania. For three years, she was a student at the art school of Norwegian painter

Harriet Backer Harriet Backer (21 January 1845 – 25 March 1932) was a Norwegian painter who achieved recognition in her own time and was a pioneer among female artists both in the Nordic countries and in Europe generally. She is best known for her detailed ...

(1906–09). Upon the advice of

Henrik Sørensen Henrik Sørensen (12 February 1882 – 24 February 1962) was a Norwegian painter. Personal life Sørensen was born in Fryksände in Sweden as a son of Severin Sørensen and Helene Høibraaten. He was married to Gudrun Klewe, and is father o ...

, she became a pupil of

Henri Matisse Henri Émile Benoît Matisse (; 31 December 1869 – 3 November 1954) was a French visual arts, visual artist, known for both his use of colour and his fluid and original draughtsmanship. He was a drawing, draughtsman, printmaking, printmaker, ...

from 1910. She spent long periods in Paris and attended the Pedro Araujo art school (1922–23). She also studied under

Fernand Léger Joseph Fernand Henri Léger (; February 4, 1881 – August 17, 1955) was a French painting, painter, sculpture, sculptor, and film director, filmmaker. In his early works he created a personal form of cubism (known as "tubism") which he gradually ...

and

Amédée Ozenfant Amédée Ozenfant (15 April 1886 – 4 May 1966) was a French cubist painter and writer. Together with Charles-Edouard Jeanneret (later known as Le Corbusier) he founded the Purist movement. Education Ozenfant was born into a bourgeois ...

at the

Académie Moderne The Académie Moderne was a free art school in Paris. It was founded by Fernand Léger and Amédée Ozenfant in 1924. The school attracted students from Europe and America. Both Léger and Ozenfant taught there, along with Aleksandra Ekster, Ott ...

(1925–29). At the Académie Moderne, Wankel was introduced to a type of avant-garde architecture and painting which was inspired by Swiss architect and designer,

Le Corbusier Charles-Édouard Jeanneret (6 October 188727 August 1965), known as Le Corbusier ( , ; ), was a Swiss-French architectural designer, painter, urban planner and writer, who was one of the pioneers of what is now regarded as modern architecture ...

. Wankel participated in many important exhibitions in Paris, including ''L'art d'aujord'hui'' at the

Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes The International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts () was a specialized exhibition held in Paris, France, from April 29 (the day after it was inaugurated in a private ceremony by the President of France) to November 8, 1925 (O ...

in 1925. Here she exhibited along with many famous artists, including

Piet Mondrian Pieter Cornelis Mondriaan (; 7 March 1872 – 1 February 1944), known after 1911 as Piet Mondrian (, , ), was a Dutch Painting, painter and Theory of art, art theoretician who is regarded as one of the greatest artists of the 20th century. He w ...

Pablo Picasso Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan Nepomuceno María de los Remedios Cipriano de la Santísima Trinidad Ruiz y Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, Ceramic art, ceramicist, and Scenic ...

Constantin Brâncuși Constantin Brâncuși (; February 19, 1876 – March 16, 1957) was a Romanian sculptor, painter, and photographer who made his career in France. Considered one of the most influential sculptors of the 20th century and a pioneer of modernism ...

Juan Gris José Victoriano González-Pérez (23 March 1887 – 11 May 1927), better known as Juan Gris (; ), was a Spanish painter born in Madrid who lived and worked in France for most of his active period. Closely connected to the innovative artistic g ...

Sonia Terk Sonia Delaunay (; 14 November 1885 – 5 December 1979) was a French artist born to Jewish parents, who spent most of her working life in Paris. She was born in the Russian Empire, now Ukraine, and was formally trained in Russia and Germany, be ...

and

Robert Delaunay Robert Delaunay (; 12 April 1885 – 25 October 1941) was a French artist of the School of Paris movement; who, with his wife Sonia Delaunay and others, co-founded the Orphism (art), Orphism art movement, noted for its use of strong colours and g ...

. The exhibition received much press coverage and was the first major international exhibition of avant-garde art after the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. However the time was not right for avant-garde art in Norway. She was on the summer exhibition at

Kunstnernes Hus Kunstnernes Hus ( Norwegian for "Artists' House") is an art gallery in Oslo, Norway. It is Norway's largest gallery under the direction of artists, and has served as a major center for exhibits of Norwegian and international contemporary art. It ...

in Oslo in 1933. Her solo exhibition at the Artists' Association in 1930 and Blomqvist in 1934 and a major exhibition was her retrospective exhibition at the National Gallery in Oslo in 1940 generally received negative criticism. Charlotte Wankel was a restrained and sober artist. She gave her pictures a tight, clear and cool form of treatment, mixed with a purist design. The formats were often modest and palette dominated by blue-gray, brown, yellow, ocher and pink. Her production in late 1930 - and 1950-years are characterized by a stronger palette and compositions are non-figurative, often with some abstract figurative elements.

Biography

References

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