Elise Blumann (16 January 1897

Parchim Parchim (; Mecklenburgisch: ''Parchen'') is a town in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany. It is the capital of the Ludwigslust-Parchim district. It was the birthplace of Helmuth von Moltke the Elder, to whom a monument was erected in 1876. Fou ...

, Germany – 29 January 1990,

Nedlands, Western Australia Nedlands is an affluent western suburb of Perth, the capital city of Western Australia. It is a part of the local government areas of the City of Nedlands and the City of Perth. It is about from the Perth CBD via either Thomas Street or ...

) was a German born artist who achieved recognition as an Australian

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 ...

painter. Blumann studied at the Royal School of Art in Berlin between 1917 and 1919, whilst also maintaining friendships and associations with artists at the

Academy of Arts An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

. Notably, Blumann recounted sitting for a portrait for artist

Max Liebermann Max Liebermann (20 July 1847 – 8 February 1935) was a German painter and printmaker, and one of the leading proponents of Impressionism in Germany and continental Europe. In addition to his activity as an artist, he also assembled an important ...

and also described his teaching methods although no verifiable evidence is available to confirm Liebermann as her tutor. After this, Blumann taught in various schools in Germany from 1920 to 1923, when she married Arnold Blumann. She fled

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

with her husband in 1934, arriving at the port of

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, Western Australia on the passenger liner ''Ormonde'' on January 4, 1938. In the decade following her arrival in Western Australia, Blumann produced a significant body of painting, taking as her subject the Western Australian landscape, her family and her new circle of friends. These works investigate the unique light and colour of the Western Australian landscape in a style informed by her knowledge of German Expressionism. Among these were ''Summer Nude,'' 1939, which caused a scandal when exhibited in Western Australia in 1944 due to both its depiction of nudity and its bold, simple shapes and lines. With the then

Curator A curator (from la, cura, meaning "to take care") is a manager or overseer. When working with cultural organizations, a curator is typically a "collections curator" or an "exhibitions curator", and has multifaceted tasks dependent on the parti ...

of the

Art Gallery of Western Australia The Art Gallery of Western Australia (AGWA) is a public art gallery that is part of the Perth Cultural Centre, in Perth. It is located near the Western Australian Museum and State Library of Western Australia and is supported and managed by the ...

, Robert Campbell, she helped found the Art Group, a discussion group through which she promoted modernist ideas and attitudes in art and art education. In the 1950s Blumann became disillusioned with the possibilities of art in Western Australia and only painted sporadically. Her work first received national attention in the late 1970s some fifteen years before she died in 1990, aged 93. She has since been acknowledged as a significant contributor to Australian modernist painting, prefiguring the development of the similarly landscape-based modernism in Western Australia associated with painters

Guy Grey-Smith Guy Grey-Smith () was an Australian Painting, painter, printmaker and ceramicist. Grey-Smith pioneered modernism in Western Australia, and has been described as "one of Australia's most significant artists of the 20th century". Biography Earl ...

and Howard Taylor.

Works

* ''Self portrait'' (1937) * ''Summer Nude'' (1939) * ''Portrait of Keith George'' (1941) * ''On the Swan, Nedlands'' (1942) * ''Rottnest Lighthouse and Salt Lake'' (1947) * ''Family Group''

References

External links

ADB Entry – Blumann, Elise Margot (1897–1990)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Blumann, Elise 1897 births 1990 deaths People from Parchim People from the Grand Duchy of Mecklenburg-Schwerin Prussian Academy of Arts alumni Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Australia 20th-century Australian painters 20th-century Australian women artists 19th-century Australian women Australian women painters