Elisabeth Noltenius | Selbstporträt an der Staffelei | 1962 | Öl auf Leinwand

The painter Elisabeth Noltenius (1888-1964) is one of the most fascinating Bremen artists of her time. Already as a young woman she studied with Hans am Ende and Clara Rilke-Westhoff in Worpswede and studied art at the Damenakademie (Ladies’ Academy) in Munich. The First World War brought her tragic losses: Both brothers fell in the war, and her sister died when she was caring for wounded soldiers in a military hospital. In 1919 her fiance was shot dead in the Münchner Räterepublik (Munich Council Republic), and at the same time, her father died. Elisabeth Noltenius returned to Bremen and from then on had to take care of herself and her mother by making money with her art.

Elisabeth Noltenius asserted herself with impressive courage and an ardent will to dedicate herself to art despite the blows of fate: In her studio in Bremen and later in nearby Meyenburg, she painted landscapes, still lifes, and portraits that testify to her intensive engagement with contemporary art movements. In the 1920s and 1930s, she undertook study trips to Italy and Spain, Hungary and Norway, and studied for some time in Berlin and Paris. Commissions for portraits took her all over Germany and into Switzerland.