Paimpol - Constance Schwedeler (1872-1962)

An oil on canvas measuring 65X50 cm depicting the port of Paimpol in Brittany in 1908 signed and dated lower right by Constance Schwedeler (1876-1962)

Rachel Constanze Schwedeler (also Constance and Konstanze) (* May 29, 1876 in Hamburg-Othmarschen; † February 3, 1962 in Munich) was a German painter and graphic artist of Impressionism, Expressionism and abstract painting. After completing her studies, she initially trained as a violinist, but studied painting in Paris before the First World War. France remained her chosen artistic homeland. She participated in her first exhibitions with Impressionist landscapes at the Salon d'Automne, the Salon des Indépendants and the Champ de Mars. This first Parisian period also included summer stays in Brittany and Normandy. After the outbreak of World War I, she had to leave Paris and went to Munich. In 1923, Constanze Schwedeler became friends with Gabriele Münter and spent six weeks with her in May and June at Münter's house in Murnau and Elmau. She encouraged Münter to work more on landscape studies from nature. Her two paintings, Spring Landscape and Spring in the Mountains, were probably created during this time and were exhibited at the ninth exhibition of the New Secession in Munich. In April 1924, Münter lived with her in Munich, and in May, they were together again in Murnau. It was during this time that Münter created her painting Murnau in May. In November 1924 and May 1925, she lived with Schwedeler again in Munich. In 1926, CS returned to Paris and was strongly influenced by André Lhote, a painter, sculptor, art critic, and theorist who ran his own academy there. During this period, nude compositions and floral pieces were created. The art dealer and gallery owner Wilhelm Uhde, who also lived in Paris at the time, was one of her patrons. It was there that she met Gabriele Münter again, who also spent the years 1929/30 in Paris and lived with her again for a while. During this second Parisian period, he stayed in Toulon, Antibes, and Nice. After the Second World War, CS was unfortunately unable to return to France and turned more towards abstract painting. On February 3, 1962, Constanze Schwedeler died in Munich.