Joachim Waldenheim (1873-1945) Austrian Impressionist

LOTTE (inscribed: fur Lotte JW 07)

Lotte Schoenberg was a childhood friend and dear companion of our artist. Joachim Waldenheim. She married early, unhappily, and outside her faith. Shortly after her marriage to Helmut Wagner, Lotte and her new husband moved to his family’s home in Dusseldorf, Germany. Joachim’s diaries of that time report a clear sense of loss and his unhappiness with Lotte’absence fom his life. Helmut Wagner, Lotte’s abusive husband, made his living as a purveyor of kitchen utensils and liqueurs for culinary flavoring. Apparently the liqueurs proved his undoing as he became a slave to alcohol, drinking his own merchandise. Waldenheim has recorded his own joy and relief when he encountered Lotte upon her return alone to Vienna. They quickly and eagerly reestablished their old friendship and this painting is a souvenir of that happy moment.

Although Waldenheim is generally described as an Impressionist (and the bulk of his surviving work is Impressionist), at the time this portrait was painted Waldenheim was clearly influenced by the Expressionist work of the German Die Brucke group (Schmidt-Rottluff, Kirchner, Heckel) as well as that of Vienna’s native exponent of Expressionism, Oskar Kokoschka.

Sad to report, Lotte’s fortunes did not improve greatly with her return to Vienna. Her family never forgave her for marrying a gentile, considered her dead and were loathe to support her. She and Joachim did find pleasure in each other’s company for the short time she had remaining in this world. She was subject to ailments and illnesses that may have been exacerbated by the physical abuse she suffered at the hands of Helmut Wagner, and she died three years after this portrait was painted.

Lotte.jpg	See Details and Enlargements
	Back to the Temple de Memoir

Title:    Painter/Date:    Painting Dimensions ¹ :