Ursula had been painting behind glass pictures when she was eight, i.e. since 1941. Ursula was still in training at that time - but the pictures were already being admired in exhibitions at that time. The two reverse glass pictures shown here were painted by the thirteen-year-old in 1946. Both based on their grandmother's biblical stories. Since behind glass pictures are painted the wrong way round on the back of the glass plate, this work was an important step for Ursula. Ursula learned the graphic division of the glass surface and the feeling for the harmony of the colors from her mother in the “stroller”.

How early Ursula worked with her many and very different techniques can be seen from a chapter on this homepage:

The many pages of the chapter are arranged according to technology and year:

Link to: Exhibitions by Period.

The next picture shows the resurrection: Christ floats up from the circle of women in a white cloak over the red petticoat in the sky. The red is repeated on the women next to him. One of the three women in front is dressed entirely in dark blue, while the skirts of the other two with their vertical stripes underline the Ascension.

In the early years Ursula mostly sewed her tapestries - like here - on sackcloth.

That was obedient to the need. Because she would have loved to work with new fabrics.

That was too expensive for a Swabian factory owner's daughter long after the end of the war. She gathered the fabric appliqué from scraps of fabric or old textiles that she had requested from relatives and acquaintances.

At the very top right on the cross sits Peter's rooster: he had denied Jesus three times. Next to the cross, two lances protrude into the sky: with one of them Jesus became

a legionnaire handed a swan dipped in cheap wine to keep people from dying of thirst; the other lance stabbed Jesus through the fifth space between the ribs, into the pericardium and then into the heart. Mary of Magdala stands under the cross.

In the middle a large woman's head, probably Maria. On the left in the picture the large, slim vase with many colorful flowers, which are symbols of life and resurrection

Many linocuts were made between 1949 and 1980. They were printed, signed and dated by Ursula herself in several editions. The linocut “Am Kreuz” dates from 1949. The artist varied the composition of the image several times.

The linocut on the left has internalized the tragedy of death on the cross. He literally lets you feel the silence of death. Nothing moves, everything is dead. The artist was 16 years old.

Ursula also designed the right glass lithograph "Am Kreuz" in 1949. In the case of multicolored glass lithographs, the different colors must be precisely delimited from one another. It can be assumed that Ursula consciously used the colors that run here; thus the contrast between the linocut and the glass lithograph becomes clear. It is no longer the rigid scene with death on the cross. Time no longer stands still. It is the time of the women on the cross until the ascension to heaven: the angels above the cross are ready to accompany Jesus to heaven.

Ursula Dethleffs learned glass lithography around 1944-45. The artist draws the design on Solenhofen stone slabs. A separate plate must be made for each color. After the chemical process, the panels are sequentially printed with the different colors. Ursula Dethleffs signed and dated the glass lithographs.

The glass litho "Am Kreuz" from the dance series "Marienleben" is consecrated to the suffering of Jesus. It is only printed in one color. This emphasizes the calm and tranquility of the dead Christ. The focus is on the cross with Jesus. The wings of the angels above and the noble clothes of the women next to the cross below add to the dignified atmosphere.

Ursula made many drawings with India ink as a child. Pen-and-ink drawings were only exhibited from 1945 onwards. The drawing of the Assumption of Mary reveals the almost naive piety of Ursula: above all in the touching beauty of the four angels who accompany Mary to heaven. In contrast, the six disciples represent the believing community in simple robes.

The oversized head of Christ in the center almost exceeds the size of the color woodcut. On the cross Jesus had called: “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” The six other calls have faded away. Jesus Christ died on the cross. He wears the crown of thorns as the king of the Jews. (His beard is there as a graphic counterbalance.)

The stoic head is framed by biblical stories:

top left - Jesus with his cross.

Opposite - Jesus with Peter in the Mount of Olives.

Bottom left - the Lord's Supper.

Opposite this - Jesus blesses Mary Magdalene.

The head in the middle of the dark red-brown is highlighted in a muted olive green - alive or dead?

Two ceramics that Ursula Dethleffs called material pictures because she worked with different types of ceramics. We summarize these works as ceramics.

"Jesus on the Mount of Olives": It is night, the sky is almost black. A few dark blue indentations loosen up the image above the Mount of Olives. In the foreground, Jesus crouches praying, wrapped in a yellow robe - his face is covered with his hands. Above right his disciples: fearfully they nestle close to one another. They make it seem like they want to protect him - despite their fear.

The picture shows the loneliness of Jesus, who seeks closeness to God, his Father. At the same time, it becomes noticeable how great the disciples' fear of the Roman and Jewish rulers was.

“Carrying the Cross”: Little is known that at the crucifixion the carrying of the cross was imposed on two people in blue robes: Above, carrying the cross with his left arm, Simon of Cyrene, who was picked up by Roman soldiers, the condemned Jesus carrying the To help cross. Below, Jesus himself carrying the cross only symbolically. His figure is divided into two parts: an arm of the cross separates the small head with the crown of thorns from Jesus, his large body - wrapped in blue cloth - crawls on hands and knees up to the place of Golgata - depressed by the brutal judgment of the threatening crucifixion. Rust-red clay lies in front of him, as a symbol that his blood is shed here for all people.

There was no other artist from whom Ursula Dethleffs could have learned the steps of drying, firing and glazing to produce her works of art from ceramics; she was the first.

The technology is so difficult to master that it has probably remained the only one. After many years of experimentation with her potter, Ursula was able to afford a large special furnace with an extremely variable temperature range - thanks to the support of her parents. The relatively small number of successfully fired ceramics can no longer be determined. On our homepage are exhibited:

There was no other artist from whom Ursula Dethleffs could have learned the steps of drying, firing and glazing to produce her works of art from ceramics; she was the first.

The technology is so difficult to master that it has probably remained the only one. After many years of experimentation with her potter, Ursula was able to afford a large special furnace with an extremely variable temperature range - thanks to the support of her parents. The relatively small number of successfully fired ceramics can no longer be determined. On our homepage are exhibited:

 see - Link in our homepage to the chapter:

Dethleffs works: number of works according to technique

At the end of her life, Ursula returned to her earliest technique, albeit on a higher level. In the beginning she had playfully looked for mussels, snail shells, bird feathers etc. and then combined them into small works of art in an imaginative way.

As she got older, she transformed her frugality into a desire not just to throw away the old, but to bring it back to life. Object art does not depend on the superficial consideration of the individual parts such as a shell or a bird's feather. She takes a step back and transforms wood, string and boards into a Christian cross. The motivation is no longer playing with things, and no longer thrift, but the new goal of using artistic creativity to transform the old worthless into completely new values

The wooden cross is a simple example because it can tell so much about artistic creativity. Wood, a single tool and string are enough for a long time to say much more about the Christian faith with this wooden cross than with many words. Of course, the viewer is expected to deal with the work.

The Christian community today is composed of many different nations. Christianity shapes the common ground from the different. It's not about pomp, it's all about sticking together. This is often not easy - even a cord can break. This shows how at risk Christians are if they remain unaware of their humanity.

The Christian spirit was poverty, it was the desire for justice and help for the helpless.

Ursula Dethleffs has returned to her roots with her art. She looked at the objects with wide eyes again and understood what this art can do for people today

What is the essence here? The coffin open at the top? The orderly skeleton? The grave goods?

A girl asked her mother when she came back from school: how am I supposed to find you and papa in heaven later when everyone who has already died is jumping around as skeleton up there? Mama replied: Everyone up there has a cell phone. When you go to heaven, I will find out and I can call you. We'll meet at the meeting point. Then we're back together. It will be nice!

This concentration on the essentials is what object art demands.

At the first exhibition after Ursula's death, a clever speaker said regretfully: It's a shame - there are so many wonderful works by Ursula. But object art should be put in the desert.

He hadn't noticed that he only saw the old wood, the old cord, the rusted metal. He did not understand what Ursula Dethleffs said with every single piece of work. It's not always easy either. But it's worth investigating.

Bernd Riedle April 2021