All entries for "Fritz Neumann"
Short description: A postcard by Fritz Neumann - “Naysayers”
Notes: Found on AKPool
Even if Fritz Neumann-Hegenberg could be ruled out as “our” Fritz Neumann from the outset. There is further evidence to support this.
Already on 31 August 2021, three years ago, a work by Fritz Neumann-Hegenberg appeared on the TV programme “Bares für Rahres” . Following the programme, a newspaper article about the consequences was also published (behind a paywall).
His works are also represented in various online collections
Since both the address book entries and some of Fritz Neumann’s works (such as this from August 1935 or this from between 1934 and 1951) date from the time of the ‘3rd Reich’, it is relatively likely that he was a member of the Reichskunstkammer . Membership was compulsory at the time…
And indeed, in the Landesarchiv Berlin (state archive Berlin), which administers the files of the “Reichskammer der bildenden Künste”, Landesleitung Berlin, there is a personal file on Fritz Neumann, born on 18 June 1905, under the archive signature A Rep. 243-04 No. 6261 !
In addition, you can see that there is a Finding aid of the collection . This also contains evidence of several auctions in which a ‘Fritz Neumann’ is mentioned…
And there is also at least one Fritz Neumann in the files of the “Reichschrifttumskammer”, kept at the Bundesarchiv, but we’ll ignore it for now…
The finding aid also reveals a date of birth: 18 June 1905!
And with this date there is even more: Fritz Neumann, born on 18 June 1905, was probably a teacher at the Staatsbauschule Berlin-Neukölln. At least there is a corresponding personnel file in the branch of the Federal Archives in Berlin-Lichterfelde. The school merged into today’s Berlin University of Applied Sciences via several intermediate steps .
But is this ‘our’ Fritz?
Short description: Coloured etching of a duck pond by Fritz Neumann
Notes: Found on a flea market (Flohmarkt Flohschanze) in Hamburg. The embossed mark of J.C. Blumenberg is clearly recognisable.
The original note where our Fritz Neumann confirms that he is Ric, published by Mark Strong of Meibohm Fine Arts included an address:
His address is Gartenfelder Str. 132 h in Berlin Haselhorst.
Since Torsten Steinberg, the author of the ad mentioned in the last post wrote about the old address books of Berlin I tried to do the same. This are the results, the first result was from 1934:
Address book 1934
Address book 1936
Address book 1937
Address book 1943
Address book 1957
Address book 1961
Address book 1970
Above only random samples, therefore the cut-outs are not continuous. No address books are available after 1970, so here are some extracts from telephone directories.
Phone book 1978
Phone book 1984
This at least makes it clear that our Fritz Neumann lived and worked in Berlin for around 50 years. And perhaps died in 1984, or at least stopped working as a graphic designer, e.g. because he went into an old people’s home.
Sources
The digital copies of the sources are linked to the respective excerpts. As the URN:NBN resolver of the DNB is used, these can also be cited.
Another clue
After receiving the news that Fritz Neumann (1928-2014) is not our Fritz Neumann, it was time to re-examine possible candidates. An interesting new clue was this offer on classifieds (formerly ‘eBay Kleinanzeigen’). In the ad dated 08.07.2024, 8 paintings (watercolours) by a Fritz Neumann are offered, the signature is very similar to that of the prints by ‘our’ Fritz Neumann. And there also is a known painting of the Charlottenburg Palace by our Fritz Neumann…
Here is the text of the advert:
Fritz Neumanns are a dime a dozen. The Berlin address book for 1964 alone lists 63 of them, including 2 painters, 1 technical draughtsman and 1 graphic artist. It is the latter who painted the watercolours offered here.
Above all, the company Meibohm Fine Arts near Buffalo on Lake Erie traded his works in the USA, sometimes under his real name, sometimes under the pseudonym RIC, then preferably maritime, e.g. sailing boats, but also animal motifs. Behind both signatures is the same Fritz Neumann, who is listed in the Berlin address books as living in Siemensstadt, at Gartenfelder Str. 132 h, until 1979. The motifs of the watercolours offered here are grouped around this place of residence, which in many respects are strongly reminiscent of the works of the well-known Berlin architectural painter Alfred-Karl Dietmann and are in no way inferior to them.
Fritz Neumann’s etchings are usually stamped ‘JCB’ by the Lübeck art publisher Josef Carl Blumenberg, through whom they found their way to the USA. If the works are signed ‘Neumann’, the spelling corresponds to that on the watercolours; if, however, they are signed ‘RIC’, it becomes clear, especially from early examples, that the pseudonym is not a new invention, but a derivation from the peculiar spelling of the first name Fritz, which can also be seen on the watercolours.
I know Fritz Neumann’s biography from Jürgen Derschewsky’s ‘Biography of Oldenburg Artists’. However, this painter seems to have little more to do with Berlin than the fact that he was born there on 27 October 1928. After school and the war, he worked as a trainee stonemason on the restoration of the war damage to Minden Cathedral in 1948/49. From 1949-53 he studied at the Braunschweig School of Art (sculpture department) and from 1954-57 at the Pedagogical College in Oldenburg, including work as an art teacher. In 1971 he joined the Oldenburg regional group of the Association of Visual Artists (BBK). 1972 First participation in an exhibition in Nordenham, which was to be followed by many more in Oldenburg and the surrounding area, most recently a retrospective of drawings, paintings and sculptures in February/March 2001. Fritz Neumann died in Oldenburg on 23 March 2014, and his wife died there five years later.
The clear focus on Oldenburg raises doubts as to whether this biography actually matches the Fritz Neumann who, at least until 1979, still had a suitcase in Berlin and to whom we owe the Berlin motifs offered here. J. Derschewsky apparently only analysed local sources when reconstructing the biography, which is why he probably missed the artist’s two-track career with a foothold in Berlin. There is a gap of more than a decade in his biography, especially around the 1960s, when I would date the Berlin watercolours, but the etching of two fishing boats as an otherwise missing link is a sure indication that the very Fritz Neumann who painted the Berlin motifs offered here also fished in Oldenburg.
After his holiday, Torsten Steinberg, the provider of the pictures, contacted me and agreed to take over his text and pictures.
Doubts
The remarkable thing is that there are clear doubts in the text that the Fritz Neumann who painted and signed the watercolours (and is therefore very probably ‘our’ Fritz Neumann) and Fritz Neumann (1928-2014) are identical. The text also offers some interesting clues as to how the seller came to these doubts. He did some research in old address books…
Another “biography” (actually it’s a list of sold works) of a Fritz Neumann has surfaced, since it lists some works by “our” Fritz, it’s a it interesting. It lists his year of birth as around 1900 and claims that the year of death is 1930…
Fritz Neumann (1928–2014) is not Ric!
During my vacation I did some research on one of the last posts : I’ve contacted the Freudeskreis Kunst Oldenburg . They forwarded my questions to Andreas Neumann, the son of Fritz Neumann (1928–2014).
He send me the following reply:
Unfortunately, my father - Fritz Neumann - is not identical with the painter ‘Ric’. The handwriting and painting style do not match, and the Berlin address does not fit either. We lived in Ohlenstedt at the time and then moved to Oldenburg.
Original in German:
Mein Vater - Fritz Neumann - ist leider nicht identisch mit dem Maler “Ric”. Schrift und Malstil stimmen nicht überein, und auch die angeführte Berliner Adresse paßt nicht. Wir haben zu der Zeit in Ohlenstedt gewohnt und sind dann nach Oldenburg gezogen.
So we need to restart the search!
But first, let’s start a bit of cleanup:
- Meibohm Fine Arts will update the page on Ric / Fritz Neumann
- A change to the German Wikipedia is awaiting approval
It’s interesting to see how many people and pages have adopted the link between Fritz Neumann (1928–2014) and Ric.
Keep in mind, it’s certain that some Fritz Neumann is Ric, just not the one who was born in 1928.
The page will be updated in the next weeks…
Short description: A postcard by Fritz Neumann - “Friend Harras”
Notes: Found on eBay
Short description: A postcard by Fritz Neumann - “Bad Times”
Notes: Found on eBay
