All Angels are Girls: Ursula's Christmas fairy tale with ceramics and family photos

The first ceramic bowl painted by Ursula in our collection:

261019 Ursula Dethleffs: "Birth of Venus" painted ceramic bowl, signed on the reverse, dated 1944 - was exhibited in the living room of Dethleff's house

Her earliest ceramic bowl, exhibited here in the Dethleffs Gallery, dates back to 1944. At that time, Ursula Dethleffs was 11 years old! The ceramic bowl is entitled "Aphrodite" (WVZ No. 261019). This motif from Greek mythology was proposed to Ursula by her mother, who accompanied her almost throughout her life in all matters of art. "Aphrodite" is a child labor of Ursula. In the inside of the shell, a thin white layer of color is applied; Ursula penciled all that, which she then scraped out again to the red pottery. The delicate work already shows that the 14-year-old child Ursula could once more develop into a hobby painter.

Paintings and family photos

1936: Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann _ WVZ-Nr.152034 _ Family portrait_ oil canvas_ front side signed _ back side - signed - dated - titled - permanent loan to the Wirtschaftsmuseum Ravensburg
1943: Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann: CID. 152054 Picture of my daugther Oil-Maplan 1943 Frontside – titled Backside-signet-datet - titled
1944 - 11-year-old Ursula with her father Arist Dethleffs: The father had been a soldier at the front. Ursula enjoys his time with him during his vacation in the front. Together they sit in front of the conservatory at the Isnyer Haus.
1944 - 11-year-old Ursula Dethleffs sits on pebbles from the Argen. She has her little cat in her arms, her mother shovels the snow from the stone path in the garden of the Isnyer house.

5 years later:
Ceramic bowls for Christmas 1949 by Ursula Dethleffs

The artistic assessment of the ceramic bowls was almost unanimously very good: best work of the very young artist! When cautious criticism was made, it read: very good craft, but no art. But those who know from the history of art that in former times among the guilds beside the bakers to the surgeons quite naturally also the artists were classified as artisans, comes to the pondering. Why should an artist not be a craftsman?

The ceramic bowls were made during the confirmation of Ursula. Ursula was mainly raised religiously by her grandmother. The preparation of the Protestant church in Isny for the confirmation was important to Ursula. Pastor Hauser was the most important anchor; Many years later, his son Hans Christian Hauser had the terminally ill Ursula fall asleep in the intensive care ward of the Waldburg-Zeilschen Kliniken with a violin sonata by Bach, which he played himself. Ursula's father had played the violin in her childhood. Ursula's cousin asked Hans Christian Hauser for the concert at Ursula's intensive care unit. He agreed immediately. Whether a fee has been paid is immaterial.

 

 

Paintings and family photos

Around 1942: Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann: WVZ no. 152033_ Grandmother Edelmann with her granddaughter Ursula _ Collection Augustinermuseum Freiburg
1943: Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann: _ WVZ-Nr. 152033_ Portrait of my daughter Ursula_Oil-plywood_1943_Front side - titled _ Back-signed-dated
1949 Ursula Dethleffs in the year of her confirmation
1949 F. Dethleffs-Edelmann at her easel in the studio of the house Dethleffs in Isny

At Christmas time: Five ceramic works by Ursula Dethleffs: All angels are girls - all girls are angels

261003_Ursula Dethleffs: "Mary and Jesus in the circle of the angels" Ceramic plate painted and glazed_ dated 1949_ Back side signed with "Ursula Dethleffs" and additionally decorated with scratched self-portrait _ Fire crack above center. The pottery was exhibited in the living room of Dethleff's house.

The ornate ornament with abstract signs forms the encircling edge of the plate. The ornament keeps everything disturbing, all worldly, from the group that has gathered in the middle around Mary with Jesus. Today we might suspect it would be a photo shoot. So beautiful are the hair laid, so gorgeous are the graphically different fabrics and dresses styled. Jesus in the middle on the lap of Mary, however, is only adorned with curly hair. His white coat reminds of diapers. At the picture construction two naked girls surprise. They prove to us: there are no sexless turkeys: all angels are girls. One of these angels sits, the other kneels down in front of Our Lady with Jesus. (Gender is neither image nor text.) The wing tips of the angels can be recognized only at the top of the group.

All girls are angels! Although this is not the Jewish tradition, but all the more the family Dethleffs: Grandmother, Fridel and Ursula care Arist Dethleffs in the middle. 1949 - when the grandmother was still living with the Dethleffs family, it could have been like this.

261017_Ursula Dethleffs: 261017_ "Maria mit Engeln" Ceramic-plate-painted-glazed-burned_1949_ on the back under sticker dated_ issued in the living room Dethleffs house

While the previous ceramic is very restrained, this ceramic surprises with its intensity. The colors of ornament and persons shine on the light yellow beige. The frame is worked in two circular ornaments. They are connected by flat drawings derived from nature: ears, leaves, etc.

Mary and Jesus are positioned in the middle as equals among equals. Maria has gorgeous hair, but she can only be recognized because the child is sitting with her on her lap. The face of Jesus is finely drawn, but his dress is still simple. In front are five girls sitting on a bench. One of the girls is holding a bunch of flowers in their hands.

One wing in this picture can only be seen with the two female angels, who are standing on the left and on the right.

The impression that the ceramic plate triggers is overwhelming. These are the years in which 16-year-old Ursula Dethleffs was called a child prodigy. The work is not signed, but the other work from 1949 suggests that it too was made by Ursula Dethleffs.

261020_Ursula Dethleffs: "Maria mit Engeln" _ Ceramic plate-painted_ front side signed lower left-around 1949_ exhibited in Dethleffs house

The edge is accented with a narrow band of ornaments. Clearly in the center sits Mary here with crown and halo. She has the unclothed Jesus in her lap, also surrounded by a halo.

Two angels fly to the right and left over Maria with her son. Their wings are made of big feathers - like bird wings. In their arms, the two bouquets hold. The right angel is not a turkey with the hint of a female breast.

Mary and Jesus are surrounded by a large crowd of girls and women. They do not get lost in the crowd, their stature is bigger - they are individual personalities. For the dresses, the fabric dominates with elongated stripes. Checked fabrics are only painted by two angels. Five of the "angels" are naked girls. Within the group, surfaces are not painted for the first time - e.g. below the two above free-floating angels. The group appears more dynamic overall than the earlier works because of the gestures of the angels.

261023_Ursula Dethleffs: "Virgin Mary with her playmates" _ Ceramic plate painted _1949_Rückseite datiert_ on display in the Dethleffs House Museum_ issued in "Christian Art of the Present" in Ravensburg and Freiburg 1949

The simple ornament as a ribbon on the edge emphasizes the unity, security and unity of the women's group with its grid structure. An appeal to the women's romance in the time of the minnesingers or the harems in the Orient?

In the large circle of her numerous playmates Maria is only emphasized by the two air fans above her, by her hair structure and by the size of her representation in the upper part of the plate. All figures are drawn very fine. The faces are mostly serious. It does not seem to speak. The check patterned fabrics dominate the picture next to the wide striped fabrics.

To introduce the oriental harem, the naked girls scattered in the group also fit here. At the same time they are an important element of the design: The natural color of their skin loosens the group as opposed to the fabrics with plaid and stripes.

Amazing is how free the 16-year-old Ursula Dethleffs edited the religious theme. This is mainly due to the education of her grandmother: she was religious, but not condescending and narrow-minded.

261024_Ursula Dethleffs: "Mary with Jesus in the circle of the angels" _Ceramic bowl painted-glazed_back-signed with self-portrait by Ursula Dethleffs - dated_1949_ on display in the studio of Dethleffs

Heaven knows no boundaries. The three ribbons of ornaments on the edge are adornment, no constriction. The ceramic bowl is densely painted. The actually dark red ceramic appears illuminated as if illuminated from within.

Maria in the upper third and yet almost hidden among the many angels: the crowned virgin with her son in her lap. The structure of her woven garment fabric stands out. Otherwise, she almost disappears among the many angels with the mostly light and the three dark dresses. Six unclothed angels frame the group below. Ursula Dethleffs leaves no doubt: all angels are also female in this work.

Between the throngs of angels and the strict ornaments on the edge, trees with roots and apples, flowering branches and the feathers of the angel wings loosen up the work. At the bottom right, the ceramic is signed "Ursula".

261026_Ursula Dethleffs: "Scenes from the Life of Jesus" _ Ceramic bowl-painted-glazed_ Backside-signed with self-portrait by Ursula Dethleffs - barely visible dated - 1949_ on display in the Dethleffs House Museum issued in "Christian Art of the Present" in Ravensburg and Freiburg 1949

Six events in the life of Jesus shows Ursula in one picture each. The picture on the left: Joseph leads the donkey, on which Mary sits with the newborn Jesus. Joseph and Mary had been "appreciated" in Bethlehem, the birthplace of Joseph. In Bethlehem, Jesus was born on Christmas. Now they are on their way back to Nazareth. Ursula has painted the joy of the birth of the Redeemer in the stable again and again. Why not here?

An infinite number of stories are told from the life of Jesus. His life was "exciting" from birth in the stable over the drama of the crucifixion to the resurrection. And yet Ursula remains calm and composed. For the life of Jesus was so extraordinary that nothing can interfere with the sublime. The photo of Ursula Dethleffs shows the content of her religious feeling (see below).

The two arranging ornaments on the edge of the pottery are simple, as simple as the round arches around the six pictures. None of the pictures suggests the drama of the life of Jesus. Only something moves: they are the magnificent wings of the Archangel Gabriel, who announces to Mary the birth of Jesus.

Photos from 1949:

1949 Ursula Dethleffs
1949 Fridel Dethleffs-Edelmann with her daughter on the way to the booth of the Dethleffs caravans at the Frankfurt fair
1949 Landesbischof Dr. Worm with wife visits couple Dethleffs on Lake Constance and in Isny
1949 Ursula watches over her Chow-Chow Wolluk in the conservatory of the Dethleffs house

6 years later: the last ceramic bowl from the Dethleffs collection

1956: 261032 _Ursula Dethleffs: "Woman with black hair" ceramic bowl_back - signed-glazed

This is the last ceramic bowl by Ursula Dethleffs that belonged to the collection. The photo is not good. But this bowl is important for the development of Ursula Dethleffs. Unfortunately we do not know who owns the dish today, so we publish the bad photo anyway.

In the 6 years from 1949 to 1956 Ursula Detheffs developed. Ursula has grown up. She has preserved religiosity, but her relationship to sexuality has changed. The cute, naked angels are no longer their symbol of femininity. The angel became the woman. One of these real women has dedicated her plate "Woman with black hair". That's why we published the plate at the end of this exhibition.

(The program Typo 3 configured for us "Christian Tauscher." We owe the photos of the ceramics 1944 - 1949 to "Knittel-Medien." Responsible for everything else is the publisher of the Internet gallery Dethleffs: Bernd Riedle.)

1957 Ursula Dethleffs with Chow-Chow in front of the dream team BMW with Dethleffs-Globetrotter at the Yugoslav border

This is the last ceramic bowl by Ursula Dethleffs that belonged to the collection. The photo is not good. But this bowl is important for the development of Ursula Dethleffs. Unfortunately we do not know who owns the dish today, so we publish the bad photo anyway.

 

In the 6 years from 1949 to 1956 Ursula Detheffs developed. Ursula has grown up. She has preserved religiosity, but her relationship to sexuality has changed. The cute, naked angels are no longer their symbol of femininity. The angel became the woman. One of these real women has dedicated her plate "Woman with black hair". That's why we publish the plate at the end of this exhibition. .