A small clue leads to large travels

Fritz's war stories were few and his sketches and paintings somehow filter out the horrors of the frozen battles at the Russian front. Amazingly, there are quite a number of originals that survive today and continue to tell stories of the past. The winter landscapes are reminders of the striking similarities of the beauty of harsh winters in Belarus and Saskatchewan (see blog entry of Feb 2012), but the portraits tell a more human story. And so it was that a tiny signature on a portrait of a fellow soldier lead to some surprising facts about the end-of-war whereabouts of Fritz as a Russion prisoner of war (POW).

Detail of signature enlarged, showing a date of March 28, 1945

Deciphered and unabbreviated: 'Gezeichnet von Fritz Stehwien, am 28. März 1945, im Gefangenen Lager Thorn'
Translated: Sketched by Fritz Stehwien, on March 28, 1945, in the POW camp at Thorn.



This turned out to be the only real clue as to exactly where this POW camp actually was. With the help of the Internet, it didn't take too long to find out that the Thorn POW camp was in today's Torun, in Poland. Not in Russia at all, as was presumed, from the few and fragmented stories that Fritz did tell.

This new clue had to be worth a journey to Europe! Retracing some of the paths that Fritz took with his 'Rolle', that forever roll of canvas he carried, has become part of the passion of the large documentation anyway, so why not head out right this summer.

99th Birthday

Large Self Portrait, late 1940s

If Fritz were alive today, he likely would still be passionately painting, sketching and finding that perfect motif. And with that critical look, constantly striving to improve on his work.

Summertime and the Outdoor Studio

Fritz using his VW as an easel

Sketching downtown Calgary with grandson looking on

Teaching art classes out on the deck

After long winters, when there were limitations on the outdoor motifs, the summertime was a most welcome season. It provided more color, easier travel, and much less worry about frozen hands and frozen paints.

Not only did Fritz chase a good view and set up in some unusual places, he encouraged his students to do the same.

 


He explained about color and clouds and perspective, but the thing that probably was hardest to teach, was how to get the 'feel' of the landscape into the painting. It is this 'feel' or 'mood' that made his paintings so popular. He somehow managed to capture more than just the view.

The Heartache of Flood Damage

Remaining half of a watercolor of a German town

It doesn't take long, when sorting and documenting the massive collection of sketches and paintings, for the damage of a flooded basement to become evident.

Many canvasses and sadly, many watercolors and other sketches are damaged, if not totally destroyed. It's hard to say whether it was due to Saskatoon's heavy rain flooding of 1982, where the water rose to one meter high downstairs, or other, lesser basement flooding in the small old house. The heartache of such a discovery is the same, regardless of the cause.

Thanks to photo editing software, however, many of these works can still be included in the inventory, and potentially in some of the planned book publishing. Restoration in print will likely be more successful than tackling it on the originals. Or is it best to just throw it all out.

Historic view of the Saskatoon City Hospital with water damage

Water damage on a watercolor sketch of a lake in summer

Long Weekend

Wakaw Lake Shorelines

  
  
That very Canadian institution of the 'long weekend at the lake' became one of Fritz's favorite quiet times for painting. Friends or relatives would extend invitations and in the later years, purchase of a cabin at Wakaw Lake, Saskatchewan, made the trips to the lake more frequent.




 
 
 
This in turn made the 'unrolling of the canvasses' as mentioned in the Retrospective booklet (link on the right), a much more common event. Delightful, in that so many peaceful summer moods were captured over the years.

4 years ago

A heated garage to serve as a temporary gallery

The incredible collection of works left behind by Fritz Stehwien is taking on a fresh new look in a make-shift gallery while the actual studio is getting some much needed renovations.

An estimated 1% of the existing collection

4 years ago, things were randomly stored throughout the studio and basement of the old residence. It has been, and still is, a daunting task to sort and document it all. Storage and presentation will probably always remain a challenge, especially with limited space and the costs involved in framing and display.

A studio full of paintings, sketches and drawings, 4 years ago.

64 years ago

Cover of the book by Katharina Heider - students of Erwin Hahs working on a mural in 1949

The internet is a fascinating entity! Most recently, it has led to the discovery of a picture of Fritz 'in action' on the cover of a research works about the art academy Burg Giebichenstein that he attended. The interesting part is that it deals with exactly the time period when Fritz Stehwien was a student there (as well as Waltraude Barthold, later to become his wife). Author Katharina Heider discusses the challenges of the freedom, or lack thereof, of artistic expression during the communist post war era.

Book excerpt showing the fresco as a whole

What a very strange thought in today's western world: An artist forbidden to make art!
Or to be so restricted in what to paint, that one had to live in fear of self expression.

Recognizing Fritz Stehwien at work in this close-up scan

It should be interesting to read how this struggle to study and teach art 60 plus years ago, in the communist post-war political climate is perceived today. It would have been, or could be a great conversation to discuss some of these topics with former students. Sadly, many will have passed away by now, but some, including Waltraude Barthold-Stehwien still tells stories about the professors and studies at the Burg Giebichenstein in Halle/Saale, Germany in the late 1940s to early 1950s.

84 years ago

When Fritz was very young and growing up in Germany, his immediate surroundings likely would not have attracted attention for anything out of the ordinary.

Remnants of an 84 year old calendar

His family owned a house and large workshop in a very small village and Fritz had no great aspirations to become an artist, from what is known. But he did show a lot of interest in sketching his surroundings, and without travel to far away places, he started with the main (and only?) street in his hometown of Miltern.

These early drawings were so well done, especially for a 13 year old, that it became obvious that this should be encouraged. The drawing shown here won in a youth calendar contest: Drawn 'Nach der Natur' in 1927, entered in 1928 and published in 1929. 'Nach der Natur' means drawn out in nature, something that Fritz ended up doing passionately for another 80 years, wherever he went.

Prairie Pastels and Winter Watercolors

Saskatoon Riverbank - Pastel 1972

 There is undeniable beauty in winter scenes of any type. Perhaps it's the 'clean' look of the white snow that blankets the landscape, perhaps it's how it brings out the few colors in contrast. However it is seen, it must have been an inspiration to Fritz, as he was known to quickly pack up his materials and head out into the snow. He often mentioned that oils and pastels work best outdoors, due to

Saskatoon Skyline - Watercolor

freezing temperatures that make water colors and acrylics more of a challenge. Certainly there were many other challenges in the sometimes inaccessible locations Fritz wanted to get his motifs from. The glistening prairie snow was often deceivingly deep for simple boots or the small vehicles he drove, resulting in adventures that Fritz had not planned for. These, sometimes  amusing, stories are as much a part of the memories, as the beauty and history that his paintings hold and preserve.

Winter in '59

Winter in Dätzingen, 1959, from the Archives in Saskatoon

Pleasant memories remain with paintings of the far-too-few snowfalls in southern Germany. Winter paintings are many, of the prairies and Saskatoon skylines, but ones from the 1960s in Germany are scarce. Below are two more favorites, just recently 're-discovered' via communication through this blog. They are part of the collection of the Ebner family and were photographed and graciously made available to post. It is very exciting to be able to see them again, and also to expand the database of the Stehwien works in this way. Thank you to the owners!  

Winter in Döffingen, 1960s

Winter in Döffingen area, 1960s