Clara von Rappard

Clara von Rappard (19 May 1857 Wabern bei Bern - 12 January 1912 Bern) was a Swiss painter.

Life

Clara von Rappard was born as the only child of Conrad von Rappard and Albertine Engell (1832–1922), the younger sister of the writer and suffragette Juliane Engell-Günther (1819–1910). Her father then ran a microscopic Institute and was, along with his brother Hermann Gisbert von Rappard (1814–1902), owner of the hotel Giessbach. Clara grew up in Wabern bei Bern, then in Interlaken. She took tours throughout Europe from childhood, and was familiar with art and cultural history. Her artistic talent was discovered and encouraged early and she received a comprehensive art education.

She studied in 1868/69 with Döme Skutzesky in Venice, 1870–1871 with Heinrich Dreber in Rome, from 1869 to 1876 with Eduard Lürssen in Berlin, from 1871 to 1874 with Antonie Volkmar and Carl Steffeck and in the school of decorative arts {de) in Berlin, 1873–1875 Friedrich Kaulbach in Hannover, 1875–1885 in the ladies class of Karl Gussow in Berlin, 1886 in the elite school for artists with Christoph H. Roth in Munich, and in the 1880s etching technique with Ludwig von Gleichen-Rußwurm. She was advised by Adolph von Menzel, Paul Friedrich Meyerheim, Arnold Böcklin and Eugène Burnand.

During her lifetime, she was considered the best known painter of Switzerland. She died after a long illness in 1912 in Bern of pneumonia.

Works

Clara von Rappard created plein air landscapes, portraits, prints, drawings, sketches, illustrations, murals and allegorical works. She was represented at exhibitions in England, Germany, France, Switzerland and the USA and has held several solo exhibitions in Germany.

Awards

• 1891: Second gold medal at the German Exhibition in London
• 1900: Gold Medal at the International Women's Exhibition in London.

References

• Jules Coulin: Clara von Rappard. Das Leben einer Malerin. Basel 1920.
• Magdalena Schindler: Clara von Rappard (1857–1912). Anspruch und (Selbst-)Inszenierung einer Künstlerin. Ungedruckte Lizentiatsarbeit, Institut für Kunstgeschichte der Universität Bern, Bern 1995.
• Magdalena Schindler, Walter Bettler: Clara von Rappard - eine Künstlerin zwischen Natur und Phantasie (1857–1912). Interlaken 1997.
• Carola Muyser (Hrsg.) (im Auftrag der Gesellschaft Clara von Rappard): Clara von Rappard - Freilichtmalerin 1857–1912. Katalog zur gleichnamigen Ausstellung: 3.6.–9.8.1999 Museum Schloss Jegenstorf (CH); 14.9.–24.10.1999 Západoçeská Galerie Plzni (Kunstmuseum Pilsen, Czch). Bern 1999, ISBN 3-00-004210-5
• Katja Behling, Anke Manigold: Die Malweiber. Unerschrockene Künstlerinnen um 1900. München : Elisabeth Sandmann, 2009, S. 118–121
• Clara Erskine Clement Waters, Women in the Fine Arts, 1904, p. 282

External links

• Tapan Bhattacharya: Rappard, Clara von in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
• "Rappard, Clara (Klara) Julia Elisa von". SIKART dictionary and database. 
• Website about Clara von Rappard

This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the German Wikipedia.