Self. Determined. The Painter Ottilie W. Roederstein Self. Determined. The Painter Ottilie W. Roederstein Edited by Alexander Eiling Eva-Maria Höllerer Sandra Gianfreda 6 Preface Contents / Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH 7 Foreword / Philipp Demandt 9 Acknowledgements 10 Roederstein: Self. Determined. / Alexander Eiling, Sandra Gianfreda, Eva-Maria Höllerer 20 Zurich, Berlin, Paris— Stepping Stones in a Female Artist’s Training / Sandra Gianfreda 84 The Self as Manifesto and Affirmation: 166 “From My Sketchbook”: A Look at Roederstein’s Painted Self-Portraits The Roederstein-Jughenn Archive / Barbara Rök in the Städel Museum / Iris Schmeisser 70 “On est fou ici”: Roederstein in Frankfurt am Main and Hofheim 174 Biography / Alexander Eiling / Alexander Eiling, Sandra Gianfreda, Eva-Maria Höllerer 110 Between Tradition and Transformation: Roederstein’s Late Work Appendix / Eva-Maria Höllerer 194 Exhibition Chronology until 1938 198 Selected Archival Sources 154 Roederstein as Art Collector and Patron 199 Selected Literature / Sandra Gianfreda 201 Exhibited Works 204 Photo Credits 206 Colophon Preface / Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH Ottilie W. Roederstein (1859–1937), a German-Swiss physician. Together they initiated a foundation that painter highly successful in her time, lived and worked provided both aid and incentive to people in Rhine- in Frankfurt am Main and the little town of Hofheim Main. Established in 1937, the “Ottilie W. Roederstein in the Taunus mountains for nearly forty years. This und Dr. med. Elisabeth H. Winterhalter’sche Stiftung” circumstance alone would be occasion enough for the pursued the aim of supporting painters in need as Kulturfonds Frankfurt RheinMain gGmbH to support an well as scientists of the Senckenbergische Naturfor- exhibition on her, notwithstanding the fact that she has schende Gesellschaft. It was later absorbed into the meanwhile all but faded into obscurity. Yet it was also Heussenstamm-Stiftung. Its establishment testifi es Roederstein’s exceptional career and dedication to pro- to the courage and foresight of two women who moting artists that inspired us to become involved in wanted to make life easier for later generations this project. She was an artist of international reputa- than it had been for them. That is a pursuit entirely tion and infl uence who had strong ties to the Rhine- in keeping with the principles on which the Kultur- Main region and was well connected in the local society. fonds is founded. Her works were exhibited in places as far afi eld as We wish the Städel Museum every success for the Chicago, London, and Paris and received many awards. realization of this special project, and the exhibition With her partner Elisabeth H. Winterhalter, Germany’s many visitors. fi rst woman surgeon and gynecologist, Roederstein overcame prescribed gender roles in the German Em- K a r i n W o l ff pire. Both women built impressive careers for them- Geschäftsführerin, Kulturfonds Frankfurt selves, the one as an artist, the other as a scientist and RheinMain gGmbH Sponsors of the exhibition Supported by With assistance of Cultural partner 6 Foreword / Philipp Demandt In 1902, the administration of the Städelsches Kunst- away from the museum, which she visited regularly, institut decided to purchase a painting by Ottilie W. taking inspiration from its collection for her own art. Roederstein—a depiction of an Old Woman Reading She had excellent connections to other local artists and (cat. 49), which, through the agency of the Frankfurter counted Frankfurt’s foremost painters—for example Kunstverein, was acquired directly from the painter in Hans Thoma, Karl von Pidoll, and Fritz Boehle—as close the year of its execution. This is by all means a note- colleagues. She was also friends with many Frankfurt worthy occurrence, as the painting was the first by a families, whose members she portrayed in large num- contemporary woman artist ever to be approved for bers. They included such eloquent names as de Neuf- the Städel Collection by what was, at least until then, ville, Grunelius, Merton, von Metzler, or Mumm von quite a conservative board of decision-makers. By this Schwarzenstein, all of whom—unlike the artist—are point in time, Roederstein was already a firmly estab- firmly rooted in Frankfurt’s collective memory thanks lished name in the local art world, and one whose works to the streets, schools, and districts named after them. also drew attention internationally. The trained portrait Measured against her importance to Frankfurt’s painter had settled in Frankfurt am Main in 1891, and artistic and cultural past, Roederstein has received far it was here that she lived until 1909, when she and her too little notice to date. For that reason, it is a matter life partner, the surgeon and gynecologist Elisabeth of very special concern to us to devote an exhibition to H. Winterhalter, moved to the house they had had built her at the Städel Museum with the aim of acquainting a for themselves in Hofheim am Taunus. The unconven- broader public with her work. Such an undertaking ap- tional relationship between the two professionally suc- pears all the more imperative when we take into account cessful women and their financial independence were at that the Städel has twenty-five paintings and three odds with the conservative role models of the German drawings by the artist in its possession—and thus one of Empire. Both were moreover outspoken advocates of the largest holdings of her works anywhere in the world. women’s education and were in close contact with Our partner in this endeavor is the Kunsthaus Zürich, leading representatives of the women’s emancipation which provided the initial spark for the unique project. movement. Whereas the nearby town of Hofheim at the Our transnational collaboration is very much in keeping foothills of the Taunus range has named the street in with the life and work of an artist who cultivated close front of their former home after Roederstein, Frankfurt ties to both institutions. In particular I would like to thank pays the famous painter no such tribute. On the con- Sandra Gianfreda, the Kunsthaus curator, Franziska trary, the renown she enjoyed here during her lifetime Lentzsch, the head of exhibition organization in Zurich, has all but faded. In this respect, she shares the fate of and Martina Ciardelli, the project assistant there. many successful women artists who, after World War II, At the Städel, the exhibition was curated by Alexander were excluded from the canon dominated by their male Eiling, head of the Modern Art Collection, and Eva-Maria colleagues and fell increasingly into oblivion. Höllerer. They had the support of Iris Schmeisser, head It is important to point out in this context that Roe- of archives and provenance research at the Städel Mu- derstein’s artistic activities were intimately interwoven seum, as well as the student assistants Anna Gehri, Alina with the history of the Städel Museum and the city of Happ, and Melanie Reichhardt. Over the past months, Frankfurt. Her studio at the Städelschule was just steps they have all worked hard to catalogue the invaluable 7 archive that passed into the possession of the Städel various contributions to the project. I would also like Museum during the preparations for the exhibition. to take this opportunity to thank all the many private It was Roederstein’s biographer and author of her collectors who have agreed to part with their works for catalogue raisonné, Hermann Jughenn (1888–1967), a lengthy period of time so as to make them accessible who gathered the material making up this archive, to the public. which his granddaughter Ingeborg Luyendyk has so The show is accompanied by this scholarly catalogue generously donated to our museum. that has many new research results to offer. I am grateful Now bearing the name the “Roederstein-Jughenn to Carsten Wolff and Dula Vukota, the graphic designers Archive in the Städel Museum,” these holdings represent at Fine German Design, for creating a highly appealing a rich fund of cultural-historical and art-historical mate- catalogue that is a joy to read and browse through. I rial whose examination has led to new scholarship and would also like to thank Hatje Cantz Verlag and its pro- provided an important basis for our exhibition project. ject heads Ute Barba and Frauke Berchtig, the trans lator We have meanwhile had the fortune to expand the ar- Judith Rosenthal, and the copy editors Lance Anderson chive through the addition of further letters and pho- and Holger Steinemann. And with her usual aplomb, tographs from Roederstein’s and Winterhalter’s families. Eva Mongi-Vollmer managed the catalogue production My thanks go to Brita Ott, Roederstein’s great-grand- on the part of the Städel Museum. The exhibition niece, and Gerhard Wulz, Winterhalter’s great-grand- design was brilliantly conceived by Alexander Horn nephew, for their contributions in this regard. and Lukas Schmidt of Studio Tonique, office for visual In the Städel conservation studio, several paintings communication. of key importance to Roederstein’s œuvre have been This intriguing exhibition project on an artist so intri- comprehensively cleaned, conserved, and reframed. cately linked to the history of Frankfurt would not have We have Stephan Knobloch, head of conservation, and been possible without the help of dedicated sponsors. I his colleagues Eva Bader and Lilly Becker to thank for re- am therefore deeply indebted to the Kulturfonds Frank- turning these paintings to their former splendor. What furt RheinMain gGmbH for once again generously sup- is more, two of the artist’s opera magna, the Pietà and porting an undertaking of great importance to our insti- Madonna with Flowers from the Catholic Parish Church tution. I hereby extend my sincere thanks to the board of St. Peter and Paul in Hofheim, underwent conser- of trustees under the chair of Prof.