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MARIA KRULL
At the beginning of the 20th century Maria’s father, Johann Garber, a carpenter, left Schenkenfelden, Austria with his wife Franziska and moved to Hamburg where Maria was born on 8th March 1909. She had six brothers and sisters.
From an apprenticeship in dressmaking to the study of sculpture
Her three-year apprenticeship in dressmaking at the professional school for fashion near the bank of the river Elbe was a happy time for Maria Krull.
The following one-year work experience with a dressmaker turned out to be disappointing. One year later she decided to prove what she was capable of, as written in her diary- like notes: “I rented a workshop for myself and put up a sign on the door saying: Ladies’ Made-to-Measure Fashion, and waited for the first customers”. She was successful and her business grew fast. “And then came the decisive day. Some workers had come to repair the heating and left behind a piece of clay about the size of a man’s fist. I took it in my hand, started to play with it and produced a figure. I was surprised how easy it was. I got hold of some more clay and in the evenings, I continued to play with it. Within a short time, I filled and decorated my workshop with various heads and figures. My customers found my work very interesting and gave me addresses of artists who would be able to assess it for me. I didn’t want to hear any of it. Yet, one day I took my work and set off for the School of Applied Arts. Luckily, that very afternoon the professors were holding a meeting to evaluate the work of the newly registered students. My work was assessed positively and I was given a form to sign which I did along with my question: but this is completely non-binding isn’t it? And this is how it all started. ”
This was in 1930 at the age of 21.
Training period
1930-1933 Hochschule für bildende Künste, Hamburg with Prof. Michael Johannes Bossard, Sculptor
1945-1949 Landeskunstschule Hamburg with Prof. Edwin Scharff, Sculptor
Successful sculptresses and sculptors who were studying with Prof. Edwin Scharff at the same time as Maria Krull:
Hans Adolf Pierre Schumann , Fritz Fleer , Gerda Sautter De Hotzen , Wolfgang Kreutter , Jörn Pfab , Maria Pirwitz
Other well-known students of Edwin Scharf:
Hermann Blumenthal, Hans Mettel, Dorothea Buck, Barbara Haeger, Karl Heinz Engelin, Heide Dobberkau, Klaus-Jügen Luckey, Manfred Sihle-Wissel
Dr Rudolf Krull’s important role and support
They had already known each other for quite some time when Maria and Rudolf Krull finally got married in the autumn of 1944. Rudolf Krull made it possible for his wife to pursue her activity and art studies during difficult times.
Maria Krull the painter
She got up one night in 1961 and started to paint. She painted mostly oil paintings. Although her paintings are largely without a date and title, her evolution and the different periods are clearly marked and visible. Subjects and themes covered are : houses, streets, landscapes, astral themes, portraits, religious themes, faces, human heads and figures, geometric and abstract paintings. An art expert proposed the term “Spiritual Expressionism” to define Maria Krull’s style. The opening speech to her exhibition in Wuppertal at the gallery «Pallette» by Prof Buchrucker provides an insight into Maria Krull as a painter.
Opening speech for the exhibition «Maria Krull», at the art gallery «Palette», Röderhaus, Wuppertal, 30th March – 10th May 1967
Casal Dell’Arte, Ladispoli
In 1961, after her husband’s death, Maria Krull travelled to Italy, first to Rome and then to Cerveteri, a small Etruscan town, 35 kms north of Rome. She was fascinated and inspired by this world. She decided to stay and bought an old farmhouse in Ladispoli on the coast 35 km west of Rome. At the time, Ladispoli was a small seaside resort with black volcanic sand supposed to have therapeutic effects on rheumatism.
The house was renovated, the land was transformed into a walled and tiled garden and the stable became her workshop.
This is how the project «Casal dell’Arte» started, a meeting place for both local and international artists and exhibitions. For this initiative, she was awarded the «Diplôme de GRAND PRIX au Mérite», by the European Centre for the Spread of Culture, Brussels (Italian Department) in June 1969. The project was initially run in collaboration with the physician and sculptor Dr Karl-Ludwig Worch, her new partner. However, their collaboration was short-lived.
Until the end of her life; Maria Krull would spend the summer in Ladispoli and the winter in Hamburg where she died on 5th March 1979, shortly before her 70th birthday.
Her Artistic Legacy
Today, there are 150 paintings and only a few sculptures. It was Maria Krull’s wish to keep her work undivided and safely in the hands of one person until an artistic evaluation of it could be carried out. Thank you in advance for your interest, ideas, suggestions and questions.
Perhaps there is a foundation or other structure to which Maria Krull’s work, or part of it, could be entrusted to be exhibited and for safekeeping.
