Today I received an e-mail from Sebastian Schuth, head of the archive of the Spandau City History Museum. Attached to it was a newspaper article from the Spandauer Volksblatt of 19 February 1972 (Archive signature IV C Z ZA PA 1038), written by a Uwe-Michael Troppenz, the title:

Segelboote für Millionäre und Vögel für sich selbst
(Sailboats for millionaires and birds for themselves)

Fritz Neumann: "Ich male am liebsten, was ich sehe ..."
(Fritz Neumann: "My favourite thing to paint is what I see ...")

The article is about the person who has been sought after here for years, the Spandau artist Fritz Neumann. The article has now revealed a few more details:

• Fritz Neumann was born in December 1897
• Studied at an art school from 1912 to 1916, where he also met his future wife Hedwig Neumann (born as Klinge)
• Was in Verdun during the First World War
• Managed an advertising studio afterwards
• Started his own business as a painter and etcher in 1930. (This can be roughly traced in the address books )
• Took part in World War 2 “from the very beginning”

We also learn that his wife published her works under her maiden name, Hede Klinge, even after their marriage. As well as the fact that he worked for the “Deutsche Allgemeine Zeitung” - certainly after the First World War.

In addition to the stages of his life, the various motifs and places from which Neumann drew his inspiration are also discussed.

Origin and family

With this data, for example, an entry on Geneanet.org can be found, which allows the data to be narrowed down further:

• Full name: Franz Robert Fritz Neumann
• Date of birth: 6 December 1897
• Date of death: 8 June 1984
• Wife: Anna Hedwig Klinge
  • Date of birth: 21 September 1895
  • Date of death: 5 November 1980
  • Wedding day 2 May 1925
• Parents:
  • Ludwig Karl Franz Neumann, 1858-1933, (Letterpress) printer
  • Clara Emilie Emma Wusterhausen, 1871-1942
• Brother: Wilhelm Franz Rudolf Neumann, 1901-

Connections to other articles

By the way, the name “Hede Klinge” already appears by pure luck in an older article about copyright entries , now it becomes obvious that it was not so coincidental.

And it is also clear that the Fritz Neumann from the Archiv der Reichskunstkammer is not “our” Fritz Neumann.

Update 24.10.2024

In the meantime, I have also received another reference from Torsten Steinberg: He sent me an extract from the death register . According to this, Fritz Neumann died on 8 June 1984 in the Havelhöhe Community Hospital in Berlin Spandau.

Documents

• Civil register entries for Fritz Neumann
• Fritz Neumann at the Academy of Fine Arts, Berlin

Short description: Ein weitererer Vogel Druck von Ric gefunden

Notes: Available on eBay .

Since the identity of Fritz Neumann has been clarified and the extracts from the civil registers are known, we know about his wife Hedwig Klinge. Since the beginning of the year, some examples of her work can be found in this blog.

Now Peter Schmelzle has come forward. Since 2018, he has been searching for the person behind the signature ‘Klinge’. He also asked his readers to send in examples of corresponding graphics and thus created a small collection of examples of graphics by Hedwig Klinge. He recently became aware of the contribution with the etching of a magnolia and was thus able to clarify the identity.

Further works by Hedwig Klinge and the complete story of her ‘rediscovery’ can be found on the pages of the Kunstsammlung Schmelzle .

As Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts pointed out, there is also a Pseudonym of Hede Klinge-Neumann in the “Catalog of Copyright Entries” 1939, Vol 34 No 1-4. A the name “Dienhoff” is noted to be a pseudonym of H. Neumann-Klinge.

More about this catalogue can be found in the corresponding article on Fritz Neumann . Other entries mentioning here are in a seperate post .

https://ric-unknownartist.projektemacher.org/post/hedwig-neumann-copyright-entries/

Summary

Short description: A colorized etching of three hunter riders galloping by Fritz Neumann

Notes:

Short description: An etching of a small child in bed by Hedwig Klinge, wife of Fritz Neumann.

Notes: Found on Kleinanzeigen.

Short description: A watercolour painting of a small child in bed by Hedwig Klinge, wife of Fritz Neumann.

Notes: Found on Kleinanzeigen.

For the revision of the biography of Fritz Neumann at AskArt , which now also contains the latest findings from this blog, Mark Strong from Meibohm Fine Arts has improved the photo of Fritz Neumann from the Spandauer Volksblatt of 19 February 1972 using artificial intelligence:

Many thanks to Mark for his work!

Short description: A print of Children on a meadow by Hedwig Klinge, wife of Fritz Neumann, again wrongly attributed.

Notes: Found on Kleinanzeigen.

Short description: A print of small children in bed by Hedwig Klinge, wife of Fritz Neumann.

Notes: Found on Kleinanzeigen.