Sarah Schumann
Sarah Schumann | |
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| Born | Maria Schirmer August 12, 1933 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | July 3, 2019 (aged 85) Berlin, Germany |
| Movement | Surrealism, Feminism, Post-war Modernism |
| Spouse | Hans Brockstedt (married 1951–1960) |
| Partner | Silvia Bovenschen (1970s–2017) |
| Website | https://www.sarah-schumann.org/en/ |
Sarah Schumann (born Maria Schirmer;[1] August 13, 1933 – July 3, 2019 in Berlin) was a German painter, collagist and draughtswoman. She was heavily involved in the German feminist movement throughout her career, forming the feminist group Brot + Rosen (Bread + Roses) in 1972 and co-curating of Künstlerinnen International 1877–1977, the first exhibition of twentieth-century women's art in Germany.[1]
Biography
[edit]Schumann was born as Maria Schirmer to sculptors Dora and Kilian Schirmer in Berlin.[2] As a war refugee of World War II, she grew up in poverty and was malnourished, which led to health problems in her adulthood.[1] She was self-taught in art out of necessity, as her parents could not afford to pay tuition for an art academy, but they nurtured her talent in their studio.[1] Her mother's remarriage to a Nazi Party paramilitary Mann led Schumann to leave home at 15, beginning an apprenticeship in Hamburg.[3] She met gallerist Hans Brockstedt, who took her on his travels to introduce her to the wider arts scene, and she later married him at 18.[1]
During the 1950s, she traveled through Europe with her then-husband Hans Brockstedt, visiting museums and collections, where she exhibited art under the name Maria Brockstedt.[1] After separating from her husband, she lived in London from 1960 to 1963, where she became intimately familiar with the London art scene, and adopted the name Sarah Schumann.[1] In London, she exhibited at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA) where she sold work successfully; in 1963, due to the cost of living, she moved to the Villa Engadina in Piedmont, Italy.[1]
Schumann lived in Charlottenburg, Berlin with her partner Silvia Bovenschen until Bovenschen's death in 2019.[4]
Reception and re-discovery
[edit]Much of her early work was considered lost. However many pieces were stored in the attic of her former husband, Hans Brockstedt.[5] After a presentation at the Hamburger Kunstverein in 1983, they were moved back into storage. Curator Christoph Keller discovered in Brockstedt's estate; around 60 collages and 15 paintings. They were brought together for a quasi-museum exhibition at the Meyer Riegger Gallery in Berlin, where the works were not for sale.[5] At the same time, Schumann's early informal paintings were presented in 2025 in the exhibition "InformELLE - Women Artists of the 1950s/60s" at the Emil Schumacher Museum Hagen.[5]
Works in public collections
[edit]Germany
[edit]- Stiftung Stadtmuseum Berlin, Berlin
- Berlinische Galerie, Berlin
- Morsbroich Museum, Leverkusen
- Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Wolfsburg
- New Berlin Art Association (nbk), Berlin
International
[edit]- Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York, US
Awards
[edit]- 1977/78: Scholarship for the German Academy, Villa Massimo, Rome
- 1981: Working grant from the Senator for Cultural Affairs, Berlin
- 1986: Scholarship for the Bleckede artists' colony, Lower Saxony
- 1987: Working grant from the Senator for Cultural Affairs, Berlin
- 1990: Working grant from the Art Fund, Bonn
Publications (selected)
[edit]Book publications
[edit]- Sarah Schumann. With contributions by Silvia Bovenschen. Frölich und Kaufmann, Berlin 1983, ISBN 3-88725-012-5.
- Moscow. Ore and Body. Dvorah-Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-927926-20-5.
- Kathrin Mosler (Ed.): Sarah Schumann: Works 1958–2002. Nicolai, Berlin 2003, ISBN 3-87584-969-8.
- Christoph Keller (Ed.): Sarah Schumann. Shock Collages 1957–1964. Spector Books, Leipzig 2025, ISBN 978-3-95905-919-0.
Illustrations
[edit]- Cover design for the collected works edition – Collected Works of Virginia Woolf published by S. Fischer Verlag
- Design of cover motifs for publications, including the complete works of Virginia Woolf published by S. Fischer Verlag, books by Silvia Bovenschen and Alexander Garcia Düttmann.
- Illustrations for an edition of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, 1974
- Covers and posters for magazines such as Freedom, Courage and Frauen im Film
Filmography
[edit]- 1978: Harun Farocki: A Picture of Sarah Schumann
- 2000: Renate Sami: Sarah Schumann paints a picture
- 2012: Michaela Melián: Silvia Bovenschen and Sarah Schumann
- 2015: Lone Thau: From Darkness to Light
- 2019: Bettina Böttinger: Sarah Schumann in conversation with Bettina Böttinger, produced by VAN HAM Art Estate
External links
[edit]- Sarah Schumann at IMDb
- Literature by and about Sarah Schumann in the German National Library catalogue
- VAN HAM Art Estate, official website of the artist Sarah Schumann
- VAN HAM, artist database of Sarah Schumann
- Artfacts, Sarah Schumann
References
[edit]- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 "Sarah Schumann's Art For Sale, Exhibitions & Biography". ocula.com. 2026-06-26. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- ↑ "Die Künstlerin Sarah Schumann ist tot". www.monopol-magazin.de (in German). Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- ↑ WELT, Gesine Borcherdt. "Sarah Schumann: Wenn traumatische Erfahrungen im Körper keinen Platz mehr haben - WELT". DIE WELT (in German). Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- ↑ "Sarah Schumann - Art & Prints for Sale". Artsy. Retrieved 2026-06-26.
- 1 2 3 Wolff, Antonia (2025-10-05). "Vergessene Künstlerin Sarah Schumann: Mit geschärften Klingen". Die Tageszeitung: taz (in German). ISSN 0931-9085. Retrieved 2026-06-26.