Helmut Ruhemann

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

, (b. 1891 – d. 1973) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

painting conservator and restorer, considered the pre-eminent of his profession during his lifetime.

Early life and education

He was born in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and studied at

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

and Paris.

Career

He was instrumental both in the promotion and utilisation of x-rays as an art historical toolHelmut Ruhemann
. fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk. Retrieved 6 March 2016 and was progressive in his efforts to clean old master paintings in a faithful manner that did not impede on original brushstrokes or outlines. He contributed to the progression of both art history and conservation through his making available his detailed notes and photographs. One of his most celebrated restorations is that of

Rogier van der Weyden Rogier van der Weyden () or Roger de la Pasture (1399 or 140018 June 1464) was an early Netherlandish painter whose surviving works consist mainly of religious triptychs, altarpieces, and commissioned single and diptych portraits. He was highly ...

's ''

Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin ''Saint Luke Drawing the Virgin'' is a large oil and tempera on oak panel painting, usually dated between 1435 and 1440, attributed to the Early Netherlandish painting, Early Netherlandish painter Rogier van der Weyden. Housed in the Museum of ...

'', a task he undertook with extreme caution, as it pitted him against Max J. Friedlander, whom he faced down in his approach but who, in the end, was complimentary towards him.Hand; Spronk, 53 He left Germany for England in 1933, following a depreciating political climate in the

Third Reich Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

which led to his being sacked from his post at the Kaiser Fredrich Museum because he was Jewish. He worked as Art Restorer for the

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, London from 1934, and spent part of the war in Wales and at the

Tate Gallery Tate is an institution that houses, in a network of four art galleries, the United Kingdom's national collection of British art, and international modern and contemporary art. It is not a government institution, but its main sponsor is the U ...

from 1939. Ruhemann is especially noted for the copious notes, detailed letters exchanged with other art historians and the many photographs he kept of his restorative undertakings, all of which greatly broaden our understanding of art historical thinking in the early to mid 20th. century. His workshop in

Golden Square Golden Square, in Soho, the City of Westminster, London, is a mainly hardscaped garden square planted with a few mature trees and raised borders in Central London flanked by classical office buildings. Its four approach ways are north and sout ...

Soho Soho is an area of the City of Westminster, part of the West End of London. Originally a fashionable district for the aristocracy, it has been one of the main entertainment districts in the capital since the 19th century. The area was develop ...

is the site of the first London

Stolperstein A (; plural ; literally 'stumbling stone', metaphorically a 'stumbling block') is a sett-size, concrete cube bearing a brass plate inscribed with the name and life dates of victims of Nazi extermination or persecution. The project, initiat ...

stone, marking the workplace of

Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...

victim Ada von Dantzig who studied restoration with Ruhemann.

Notes

Sources

* Hand, John Oliver; Metzger, Catherine; Spronk, Ron. ''Prayers and Portraits: Unfolding the Netherlandish Diptych''. National Gallery of Art (U.S.), Koninklijk Museum voor Schone Kunsten (Belgium), 2006. CT: Yale University Press. {{DEFAULTSORT:Ruhemann, Helmut 1891 births 1973 deaths Conservator-restorers German art historians People from Berlin Emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom