Mathilde Block (

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

: Mathilde Block-Niendorff;

née The birth name is the name of the person given upon their birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name or to the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a births registe ...

Auguste Betty Julie Mathilde Block) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

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 ...

and embroiderer. Her artworks and paintings range from pencil portraits to embroidered quilts and have been exhibited in numerous art expositions throughout the world.

Life

Early life

Mathilde Block was born on 10 July 1850 in Niendorf an der Stecknitz in the Duchy of Saxe-Lauenburg. She was the daughter of Julius Friedrich Block (1806-1854), who was a pastor in a local

Roman Catholic church The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

, and his wife Auguste Henriette Wilhelmine Block,

Rosa (1819-1908). When Mathilde was three years old, her father died. A small parsonage widow's house was built for her mother, Mathilde, and her two siblings, into which they moved when it was finished creating. Mathilde Block used to draw since she was a kid. The oldest documented evidence of her early drawing skills is five portraits of Niendorf farmers, which she is said to have drawn at the age of twelve. Mathilde was tutored by her mother, supported by her father's successor, Pastor Fiedler. After discovering her talent in art, she was sent to

Ratzeburg Ratzeburg (; Low German: ''Ratzborg'') is a town in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is surrounded by Ratzeburger See, four lakes—the resulting isthmuses between the lakes form the access lanes to the town. Ratzeburg is the capital of the distri ...

for a year and a half, where she attended secondary school. Back in Niendorf, at the age of sixteen, she started her first job as a teacher for two and a half years. To be able to support her mother, who lived only on a small pension and some manual labor, she looked for a better-paid position as a tutor in Burg Stargard at Stargard Castle. She stayed there for four and a half years. During the following year and a half, she devoted herself to training in drawing. She also received a scholarship.

Career

In October 1875, she moved to

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

. She received a two-year freelance position from Crown Princess Victoria in the ''Viktoria-Pensionat'' or ''Viktoria-Stift'' (retirement home in

Erfurt Erfurt () is the capital (political), capital and largest city of the Central Germany (cultural area), Central German state of Thuringia, with a population of around 216,000. It lies in the wide valley of the Gera (river), River Gera, in the so ...

) from the Lette-Verein and attended the association's arts and crafts drawing school. At the same time, until 1 July 1877, she also took courses in the drawing school of the Vereins der Künstlerinnen und Kunstfreundinnen (Association of Berlin Women Artists). One of their lecturers there was Professor Adolf Eybel. In recognition of her efforts and the successes she had already achieved, she received a silver medal from the ''Lette-Verein'' in January 1877. In September 1877, she applied to the

Prussian Academy of Arts The Prussian Academy of Arts () was a state arts academy first established in 1694 by prince-elector Frederick III of Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg in Berlin, in personal union Duke Frederick I of Prussia, and later king in Kingdom of ...

for being a drawing teacher, for that she had to give an exam. She passed the exam with good grades. She worked as a drawing teacher in Berlin, meanwhile, she also took private lessons from Gustav Graef, also in whose studio she had begun

oil painting Oil painting is a painting method involving the procedure of painting with pigments combined with a drying oil as the Binder (material), binder. It has been the most common technique for artistic painting on canvas, wood panel, or oil on coppe ...

. On 4 March 1878 Mathilde received another scholarship for two years from the ''Landscape Collegium of'' the

Herzogtum Lauenburg Duchy of Lauenburg ( ) is the southernmost ''Kreis'', or district, officially called District of Duchy of Lauenburg (), of Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bordered by (from the west and clockwise) the district of Stormarn, the city of Lübec ...

, retrospectively until the beginning of the year, for which she had previously applied in writing. Other painters with whom Mathilde Block took private lessons in Berlin over the years included

Karl Gussow Karl Gussow (25 February 1843, Havelberg – 27 March 1907, Munich) was a German painter and university professor. Life and work His early inclination to art was encouraged by his family so, as soon as he completed his secondary schooling, he wa ...

, Franz Skarbina, and Friedrich Geselschap. In 1892 she joined the Society of Friends of the

Academy of Arts An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

(De Akademie der Künste) in which she remained until 1927. She won three prizes in the club's art competitions.

Death

Mathilde Block died on 21 June 1932 in Pinneberg. She was buried in her old home in Niendorf, as she had wished beforehand, in the cemetery next to the church where her father was the pastor.

Awards and prizes

Exhibitions (selection)

* 1887 or 1888: Exhibition in Mölln * 1888: 60th exhibition of the

Academy of Arts, Berlin The Academy of Arts () is a state arts institution in Berlin, Germany. The task of the Academy is to promote art, as well as to advise and support the states of Germany. The academy's predecessor organization was founded in 1696 by Elector F ...

* 1889: 61st exhibition of the

*1891: International exhibition organized by the Association of Berlin Artists (Verein Berliner Künstler) on the occasion of its 50th anniversary. *1891: Fifth exhibition of the Poznan Art Association. *1892: 13th art exhibition of the Association of Women Artists in Berlin *1892: 63rd exhibition of 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 from May 5 to October 31, 1893, to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus's arrival in the New World in 1492. The ...

*1893: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1894: 14th art exhibition of the Association of Women Artists in Berlin *1895: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1895: German-Nordic trade and industry exhibition ( Deutsch-Nordische Handels- und Industrie-Ausstellung) in

Lübeck Lübeck (; or ; Latin: ), officially the Hanseatic League, Hanseatic City of Lübeck (), is a city in Northern Germany. With around 220,000 inhabitants, it is the second-largest city on the German Baltic Sea, Baltic coast and the second-larg ...

*1897: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1898: 16th art exhibition of the Association of Women Artists in Berlin *1899: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1901: 17th art exhibition of the Association of Women Artists in Berlin *1901: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1902: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1904:

Louisiana Purchase Exposition The Louisiana Purchase Exposition, informally known as the St. Louis World's Fair, was an World's fair, international exposition held in St. Louis, St. Louis, Missouri, United States, from April 30 to December 1, 1904. Local, state, and federa ...

(international expostion in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

) *1906-1908: Große Berliner Kunstausstellung *1909: Art Exhibition in

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

*1918: Art Exhibition in Berlin

Posthumously

* 1933: An exhibition in Pinneberg, organized by her sister Therese, in which her watercolor paintings were shown.

Work (selection)

* 1862: Fünf Köpfe Niendorfer Bauern (Five heads of Niendorf farmers; pencil'').'' * 1878: Collaborative artwork with Martha Endell, a commemorative sheet of The Association of Women Artists in Berlin for

Kaiser Wilhelm I Wilhelm I (Wilhelm Friedrich Ludwig; 22 March 1797 – 9 March 1888) was King of Prussia from 1861 and German Emperor from 1871 until his death in 1888. A member of the House of Hohenzollern, he was the first head of state of a united Germany ...

, which was to commemorate the failed assassination attempt on him on 11 May 1878. *1879: Bildnis eines jungen Mädchens ''(''Portrait of a young girl;

pastel A pastel () is an art medium that consists of powdered pigment and a binder (material), binder. It can exist in a variety of forms, including a stick, a square, a pebble, and a pan of color, among other forms. The pigments used in pastels are ...

'').'' *1884: Damenporträt (portrait of a young woman; oil on canvas)-

Staatliches Museum Schwerin The Staatliches Museum Schwerin (State Museum Schwerin) is an art gallery and museum in Schwerin in Germany. It was established by Frederick Francis II, Grand Duke of Mecklenburg-Schwerin in 1882 its historicist Haupthaus as the ''Staatsgalerie' ...

. *1885: Christus am Kreuz (Christ on the Cross; oil on canvas)- St. Georg auf dem Berge (Ratzeburg). *1886: Portrait of Pastor Adolf Moraht (oil on canvas). File:Bethlehemitin, 1897 - Mathilde Block.jpg, Bethlehemitin by Mathilde Block ''(1897)'' File:Brustporträt eines kleinen Mädchens.jpg, ''Brustporträt eines kleinen Mädchens'' File:Jugendbildnis des Grafen Albrecht von Hardenberg, 1921 - Mathilde Block.jpg, ''Jugendbildnis des Grafen Albrecht von Hardenberg'' (1921) File:Russwurm Dom RZ crop.jpg, Portrait of Johannes Rußwurm (1892) File:Abendmahl, Mathilde Block.jpg, ''Das Abendmahl'' (1906) File:Walcke-SchuldtOF.jpg, Portrait of Oskar Ferdinand von Walcke-Schuldt (1887)

Notes and reference

Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Block, Mathilde 1850 births 1932 deaths 19th-century German painters People from Lauenburg 20th-century German painters German embroiderers 20th-century German women painters