Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen Stiftung was founded 2015 - one Jahr after the artist's death - see our Memoir & external links
Norway
Graphic and photographic depictions of a landscape
Michael Schildmann
&
Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen
Invitation to the inauguration of this joint exhibition
as part of the Atelier Route in East Frisia
on Friday, 13 September 2024
at 5 PM (exceptionally open till 8 PM).
Introductory talks by
Prof. Klaus Hentschel & Michael Schildmann
Opening hours
Weekend of 14-15 September 2024 10 AM to 7 PM
Cankebeerstr. 97 in 26553 Dornum-Westdorf
Michael Schildmann from Oldenburg presents photographs taken between 2010 and 2017 from his peregrinations in southern Norway
Sketches, paintings, and three-dimensional works by the artist Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen were inspired by a car tour through Scandinavia in 1979 ranging from Finland to North Cape at the extreme north, then along the Norwegian coast southwards through the Jotunheimen mountain range
The intense impressions and moods from these tours through fascinating landscapes are reflected in the scenic works by this photographer just as much as in Ruth's paintings and travel sketchbooks,
a selection of which is presented in dialogue as a special exhibition
The photographer will be present at the opening on Friday as well as on Sunday afternoon. See his illustrated volume photographically documenting his scenic hikes:
Michael Schildmann: Olavsleden, Panoramic Photography, Three pilgrimages through Norway and Sweden, Edition Lichtblick: Oldenburg, 2023 Michael Schildmanns blog
The recent retrospective exhibition of some 70 works of art by Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen in 9 rooms of the regal Palais Rastede near Oldenburg has been scanned in 3D by WattnDesign for virtual viewing of all the exhibits: see here
The tour starts outside the palace – clicking on the walker takes you to the entrance hall, we recommend you turn right and walk through the rooms counterclockwise. Aside from the zooming and turning options, there are various viewing options at the bottom left corner to facilitate rapid alteration between perspectives and starting points
born on April 4, 1922 on the Island of Norderney, North Sea
teacher training in arts and crafts
stipend from the German national fund for the specially gifted; studies under Prof. Berger and Prof. Krantz
since 1946 countless exhibitions in Germany and abroad (see below)
1961 birth of her son Klaus
1976–79 lectureship in painting at the Westend Art School (College of Design, Frankfurt am Main)
1988 atelier visit by 3sat television team, broadcast on June 2, 1988 in Aspekte extra (3sat)
2002 retrospective exhibition for the artist’s 80th birthday at the Telematik Zentrum in Norden, East Frisia
2012 jubilee exhibition for the artist’s 90th birthday at her atelier in Westdorf
Ruth died on December 22, 2014 in Dornum, East Frisia
Burial at sea off the sandbanks of Spiekeroog on January 3, 2015
Abroad:
Egypt: Cairo, Alexandria; Belgium: Brussels; Chile: Santiago de Chile; France: Avignon, Caen, Paris (Biennale 6 in the Palais de Louvre, Pavillon de Marsan), Versailles, Evian; Greece: Athens (1967 & 1973 Palais Zappion); The Netherlands: Ameland, The Hague (Rittersaal), Groningen (Allersmaborg); India: New Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta; Israel: Tel Aviv; Italy: Trieste, Bologna, Milan, Rome; Canada: Montreal Biennale; Austria: Laxenburg Vienna; Switzerland: Zurich; Spain: Madrid; Taiwan: Hsinchu; USA: Tuscon Arizona, New York, Danbury Connecticut, Phoenix Arizona;
in Germany:
Berlin, Bonn, Bremen, Cologne, Dortmund, Düsseldorf, Emden, Essen, Frankfurt am Main, Giessen, Hannover, Leer, Ludwigshafen, Mainz, Mannheim, Munich, Nuremberg, Stuttgart, Wetzlar, Wiesbaden, Wilhelmshaven, etc.
Ruth’s works from the Walter Baumfalk Collection are intermittently on display at the Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum in Emden, in their New Gallery, which features East Frisian fine art from the 20th and 21st centuries.
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A dozen paintings by Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen were part of an exhibition
"Winter Paintings in East Frisia"
conceived and organized by the director of the Kunsthaus Leer, Susanne Augat M.A. The venue was Evenburg Castle in the Leer environs, from 11 November 2018 until 10 January 2019. The exhibits painted by Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen were: one canvas, two sgraffitos, two monotypes, two pastells and five other diverse techniques.
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Three paintings by Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen were on exhibit 2nd November 2017 until 22nd April 2018 at
Galerie Luzie Uptmoor in the Industriemuseum Lohne
Stille, 2006, Aquarell und Jaxon Ölkreide
Wolke und Düne, 1982, Aquarell
Thema Strand, 1980, Aquarell
Scheduled to reopen on 15 September until 8 December 2019
in the Palais in Rastede
The exhibition catalog Luzie Uptmoor und Künstlerinnen ihrer Zeit aus dem Oldenburger Land is available at the gallery and in bookshops in Lohne for 15.80 € ISBN 978-3-945579-08-4
A special exhibit with a dozen pictures illustrating a selection from the artist's poem cycle Strandwanderung was shown during the 28th Dornumer Kunsttage under the auspices of the Kunstverein Dornum sponsored by Ostfriesische Landschaft
30 July - 20 August 2022 in the Castle in Dornum.
The pandemic unfortunately prevented the barn gallery from following its regular schedule of welcoming visitors during the first 2 weekends of September in collaboration with
Atelier-Route Ostfriesland
http://www.atelierroute.de/
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Try out our new 3D-Tour of the artist's
atelier, home and barn gallery
3-D Tour of Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen’s Barn Gallery, Atelier and Home
A virtual tour through the residence and atelier of the artist is available on the web since September 2021 (click on the 3D-Tour link in the main menu above). One can move around freely in all the rooms of the house and barn to look at the displayed objects and paintings of interest from various perspectives, and even take a brief walk through the garden.
The 3-D scan was produced by Thomas Ahrens from Watt n Design,
powered by Matterport
© Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen – Stiftung
We recommend you first view the introductory film, which presents the rooms and demonstrates various options of this virtual tour. The background music is an excerpt from the orchestral composition “Lontano” (1967) by György Ligeti (1923–2006), a composer whom Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen particularly appreciated for his use of differentiated tonal levels and fine modulations.
Quick tips: the tour usually runs smoothly when it is reloaded a second time. The white rings on the floor serve as stepping stones through the property by mouse click (there is a slight lag for the repositioning). Maneuver using the arrow keys (turn your view left with ← or right with →, approach with ↑up or retreat with ↓ down).
The symbols on the lower left corner of the screen provide the following optional modes: walk-through, play, dollhouse, floorplan view, floor selection (1 or 2), measuring rod.
From each of these viewing modes you can click on areas of interest and start your 3-D tour from there: entrance hall (Eingang); livingroom; atelier (Winteratelier); hallway; kitchen; guestroom; former cowstall; former pigsty; barn gallery (Sommeratelier); loft (south, east, west). Clicking onto any of the white rings, you can rotate 360° or zoom in or out at a given position. Colored circles mark points of interest. External views of the building are possible from the garden outside (at 360° flags). The display photos lower down provide alternative links to specific rooms from which to start your tour. In the livingroom (Wohnzimmer) double-clicking on the corner easychair draws the bookshelves into focus to examine the library on art and nature, the symbol on the TV starts a video about the artist. If you have a VR headset, you can view the rooms in virtual reality mode (click on the symbol in the lower right corner next to the full-screen square).
The house and barn gallery are kept close to the original condition in which Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen lived and worked there for thirty years, since her return to the North Sea coast in 1983.
Cancelled due to the pandemic:
Under the auspices of the Kunstverein Aurich
some 70 works by Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen would have been on exhibit in May/June 2021 in the Aurich City Hall gallery on the theme
"Wattstimmungen" (mud-shoal moods)
The monumental column "Water Column" conceived for a German spa, is a prominent example of Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen’s fountain designs. The small green Venus figure from 1980, by contrast, represents her many smooth figurines with round contours that fit comfortably into the palm of a hand. About 200 nude studies – which are considerably less well-known in this oeuvre – distill the subject down to its very essentials. Many of the exhibits here in East Frisia were shown for the very first time.
Two of Ruth's many nude sketches from the mid-1950s were on display in the Historisches Museum in Aurich 8 Sep.-8 Dec. 2019, as part of the special jubilee exhibition for the 15th Atelier-Route in this region.
Graphics
(for the images see our graphics page)
Ruth drew and sketched throughout her life. We can establish preferences for particular techniques in different phases. At the beginning of her artistic career, drawings in pencil, ink and red chalk precede travel sketches in ink, pencil and felt-tip from the 1960s and ’70s. In this period she also produced a number of prints by various methods (lino-cut, wood and material prints, monotype, etc.) and numerous frottages appeared in the ’80s.
Her mastery of portraiture from a class she had attended in the mid-’40s was useful right after the war as a source of income. Her self-portraits at the beginning and end of her career form an indicative contrast: Dürer-like sternness in pencil from 1944 (WVZ0074) compared to the fleeting impression from 2014 in red chalk and pastell (WVZ0239). But Ruth always considered her other artwork more important. An extensive series of nude studies on large newspaper sheets (WVZ1709) in 1956 presumably originate from a sketching course in Bonn.
There are innumerable landscapes in ink, pencil and charcoal but the focus of these sketches moves increasingly away from figuration towards formal composition. Compare her contorted tree portraits (e,g. in pencil WVZ1910) or thicket studies from Westerwald, to the geometrical compositions from a trip to Italy in the ’50s. The draft (WVZ2860) from 1956 is no longer a study of the houses clinging onto the Stromboli slope but an exercise in arrangement – stylized blocks and arches, with the doorways and windows merely hinted at. The ink drawing (WVZ0874) shows where she was coming from. A car tour through Scandinavia in 1979 produced numerous felt-tip sketches of mountain chains and glacial structures, rapidly drafted as mementos for a later more elaborate drawing or painting – often 8 of such sketches on a page, each the size of an index card (WVZ3530).
Ruth was often inspired by the patterns visible on a cut wooden plank and a variety of frottages from them evoke a landscape, torso, creature or form. The motifs inspired by her woodland excursions became increasingly distilled compositions (lino-cut on tissue from ca. 1962, WVZ1608).
Her teacher-training in the crafts in the early ’40s had introduced her to various materials and techniques. There are small relief prints off engraved plexiglas from 1979, for instance, and large abstract ink-wash compositions from the ’50s.
The marine monotype „Zyklus Meer“ (WVZ0256) was multiply reproduced as an offset lithograph in 1977. „Fontanellen“ (WVZ4614), an excerpt from a medical booklet published by the German Red Cross in 1964, is but one of a number of line drawings as a book illustrator since 1952.
Hellas - Plaka (WVZ0042)
Ten years after her death in 2014, the upcoming exhibition
‘One must forge one’s way to pictures’
Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen – a Retrospective
in Palais Rastede, looks back on her oeuvre, which casts an unusual bridge between the creative and literary arts.
In cooperation with Kunst- und Kulturkreis Rastede e.V.
the Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen–Stiftung presented 70 artworks that give an idea of the diverse phases, techniques and styles explored by Ruth along her path.
7 April to 19 May 2024
Open: Thursday & Friday 2:00-4:00 PM, Sunday 11:00 AM-5:00 PM (closed on Ascension)
The theater company based in Marienhafen
‘Theaterwerkstatt Rosenstraat 13’
presented readings from Ruth’s poetry cycle Strandwanderung – Gedanken – Metaphern
with a slideshow in Palais Rastede
uniting word with image from the unique viewpoint of this artist.
On Saturday, 20 April 2024 at 3 PM
translated by Ann M. Hentschel
Flower-creature
sea anemone
Division –
From parts
create
a new
whole.
Grow
multiply
agelessly
timelessly
On the first two weekends of September 2023 we exhibited a selection of ca. 70 paintings, drawings, prints and sculptures on the theme
Vegetabilia
The exhibition was in the artist's atelier at Cankebeerstr. 97, D-26553 Dornum-Westdorf
The 3D-scan of the sculpture "sleeping kitty" from 1988 became "Scan of the Month" in May 2023, see:
and https://vimeo.com/839721126?share=copy and our subpage 3D-Scans
format 43 x 42 cm, spiral binding, c. 565 g; 12 coastal landscapes; conception and author: Dr. Annette Kanzenbach; publ. by Ostfriesische Landschaft in collaboration with Ostfriesische Brandkasse, Aurich 2017. Reduced: 9.95 Euro ISBN 978-3-940601-43-8
Figuration and abstraction, as the title of one newspaper report about the issuance of this new art calendar implies, would only partly describe this artist's oeuvre spanning some seven decades. Nevertheless, these twelve samples lend an impression of the great variety of East Frisian mudflat and marine landscapes, by the North Sea. They also demonstrate the strength of translation, depth and compositional qualities of some of Ruth's works painted during some of the later stages of her career.
The play of light and shadow on water in its various forms—as mist, clouds, rain, weak trickles, gushing currents or the vast expanse of the sea—was a constant source of inspiration for Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen. The way water reshapes materials like sand and silt, earth and rock fascinated her. Its work is particularly evident on the German coastline in East Frisia, where Ruth spent the first 18 and last 30 years of her life. Waves, ripples, currents and the inlet streams along the coastal mudflats continually remodel the landscape. This year’s exhibition by the Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen – Stiftung presents a selection of her paintings and prints on the topic “watery structures”
format A4, 124 pages, paperback binding with numerous color illustrations; contains 40 contributions by the artist's relatives, friends, professional colleagues, acquaintances, neighbors, Soroptimist Club members, collectors, art historians, and curators. It also includes the pastor's funeral sermon and a memoir by the editor Klaus Hentschel, Price: 19.90 € ISBN 978-3-89728-082-3
The idea behind this collection of 40 personal essays about the painter, graphic artist and sculptor Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen arose shortly after her death at the end of December 2014: To preserve these recollections, still fresh in the minds of her many relatives, professional colleagues, friends, acquain-tances, Soroptimist Club sisters, art collectors and historians. That's how a colorful portrait of this so fascinating personality could be drawn. It is much more multifacetted and polyphonic than any single author could ever manage. Surprisingly many people responded to this call and the complementarity among the resulting contributions is astounding.
Historical method also motivated the editor to produce this volume in the present form. The historian of science Prof. Klaus Hentschel has already published a paper about Michael Frayn's play Copenhagen, which demonstrates the advantages of approaching history polyphonically. Historians are increasingly moving away from the illusion that "the" definitive biography can ever reflect a personality fully. Such "definitive" biographies of famous or infamous heros such as Einstein, Gandhi or Hitler, succeed each other in 2-year intervals. National, cultural or religiously differing perspectives on an individual are far too great. This polyperspectivity is essential and inescapable in history and biography; and this volume makes a serious attempt at a composite sketch of the artist from 40 different perspectives.
format A4, oblong, 48 pages, paperback binding, with numerous color illustrations of abstract landscapes as well as a few expressive studies inspired by landscapes, Price: just 12.00 € plus shipping ISBN 978-3-89728-072-4
format A4, 80 pages, paperback binding, with numerous color illustrations, appeared in a 2nd revised edition 2013. Price: 14.00 € plus shipping, ISBN 978-3-89728-078-6
On the weekend of 5-6 September 2015 the doors to Ruth's barn gallery were reopened for public viewing and on the following weekend 12-13 September 2015 it premiered as part of the Atelier Route Ostfriesland.
Please note that we do not sell original artwork. The purpose of our website is to inform the public about this artist's oeuvre.
Multilayer mixing of various color binders to render hues to fullest effect – "Mischtechnik"– is the expressive form for which Ruth has become famous as a painter. She most frequently employed pastel, oil or tempera, occasionally also water color or a combination of these multilayer techniques. A selection of her paintings follows: (link under construction)
This painter repeatedly reverted to sculpture, which may be explained from her training as an arts and crafts teacher as a young woman. The materials Ruth used for her sculptures and models include plaster, clay and ceramic, concrete, iron, aluminium, as well as organic materials such as twigs, branches, etc., their surfaces finished and/or colored.
From time to time Ruth left her easel or pasteboard for the drawing table. Here is a small selection out of her quite considerable graphic oeuvre, which has hitherto received little attention. There are drawings in pencil, charcoal and red chalk, as well as frottages and prints.
(See above for the text in English)
The film crew of Nordsee TV shot a 3-minute film about Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen during a visit to her barn studio in Westdorf, on the outskirts of Dornum, accessible through the link below:
Ruth lived and worked since 1983 near the North German coast in a typical East-Frisian Gulfhof, a timber-framed brick farmhouse with attached barn. It is located on the mainland with a direct view to the dike and the lighthouse beacon of her native island Norderney. This building, dating back to the 18th century, includes living quarters on two floors with a basement and a medium-sized barn area that she used as her atelier during the summer months. It permanently houses a number of larger sculptures and more hardy oil paintings. During the colder seasons she worked in the large workroom in her home. These rooms will be preserved for continued public exhibition.
Ever since childhood Ruth enjoyed being outdoors. She spent much time in her father’s orchard by a lake near Wilhelmshaven and, shortly after World War II, on the extensive grounds of the paternal farmhouse in Stockhausen near Wetzlar. During the 1950s her apartment in Mehlem on the Rhine, by Bonn-Bad Godesberg, opened out onto a peaceful garden, and she cultivated her own plot during her Bad Nauheim days. After her return to the German seacoast in 1983, she lived in the middle of her pretty orchard garden in Westdorf. Under her care it transformed into a flowery haven. Some of Ruth’s own photographs in the link below offer a virtual tour through her garden refuge:
The Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen Stiftung (RSSS)
a nonprofit cultural foundation was established in 2015
The Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen Stiftung was founded in 2015 under the legal advice of the CMS Stuttgart office.
The seat of this foundation for the artist's estate is her former home and atelier in Dornum-Westdorf by the North Sea, in East Frisia, Germany. The Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen Stiftung is mainly dedicated to the preservation of the memory of this artist and her oeuvre within the context of its creation, her art studio, barn gallery, garden, and living quarters. Another element of the foundation’s purpose is the promotion of the arts and culture in general, in the following areas:
- the creative arts (esp. abstract painting, graphic art, and sculpture),
- literature (esp. poetry), and
- music (esp. chamber music),
hence those forms of artistic creativity that Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen herself practiced and which had meant particularly much to her.
Another of the foundation’s areas of activity are the historical and cultural exploration of the meeting points between art and science, of special interest to its founder, the historian of science and son of the artist, Prof. Dr. Klaus Hentschel, as well as his wife Ann M. Hentschel B.A.
Toward this aim, all the works of art on the artist’s premises, along with a considerable original capital, are being invested in the foundation. The Hentschel couple will also dispose to the foundation stock the other works of art by the artist that are currently at their home in Stuttgart, along with other portions of their private capital. This includes, most particularly, their residence in Stuttgart, the posthumous sale of which will add substantially to the foundation’s original capital, in order to establish a secure basis for the foundation to continue to operate under “external” management beyond the deaths of its founders.
For the furtherance of the foundation’s purpose, the Hentschel couple are personally involved and managomg the foundation on a volunteer basis as members of its Board of Directors. Their motivation for this personal engagement is the preservation of the oeuvre and memory of the artist Ruth Schmidt Stockhausen. The management of the foundation should also profit by the expertise and experience of other outside persons, however. At least one other person besides the Hentschel couple is always involved in the direction of its operations: Mr. Alfred Janssen (a foundation specialist at the bank Oldenburgische Landesbank in Oldenburg) is assuming this task and has joined the Board of Directors.
The Hentschel couple are aware that the foundation’s ambitious goals can only be achieved in the long run if important personalities can be persuaded of the foundation’s aims, who share their passion for the arts and are prepared to support the foundation. In order to create a suitable forum for these personalities so important to the foundation, the foundation has beeen provided with an Advisory Board to advise on the management of operations, publically represent the foundation, and promote the foundation’s aims. The foundation’s statutes are designed to limit the functions of the Advisory Board to a purely advisory capacity and dispense its members of any responsibility for the operative management of the foundation.
The foundation’s official operations commenced with the official signing on 10 December 2015, legal confirmation of the foundation occurred on 14 December 2015, and official approval of the nonprofit status of the foundation by the local authorities was also issued prior to the close of that year. The transfer of the artist's real estate at Cankebeerstr. 97, in Westdorf will take place in early 2016.
Board of Directors (Vorstand)
Prof. Dr. Klaus Hentschel, Stuttgart/Dornum, Chairman of the Board of Directors
Ann M. Hentschel B.A., Stuttgart/Dornum, Vice-Chairman of the Board of Directors
Alfred Janßen, Hude, foundation manager (DAS).
Advisory Board (Kuratorium)
(confirmed members to date, in alphabetical order)
Susanne Augat M.A., art historian and museologist, Kunsthaus Leer, Chairman of the Advisory Board
Dr. Annette Kanzenbach, art historian and museologist, Ostfriesisches Landesmuseum Emden, managing director of Stibiku
Eva Requardt-Schohaus, journalist, Norden
Ute Schmidt, Erzhausen near Frankfurt, and her deputy:
Barbara Schmidt-Abbey, Dublin, Ireland (both nieces of the artist)
Doris Schumann, member of the administration of the Town of Dornum and longtime delegate of the Dornumer Kunsttage, Dornum Town Hall
Translated by Ann M. Hentschel Last edited August 2024
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