Rosa Schapire (9 September 1874 – 1 February 1954) was an

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...

-born art historian who lived in Germany and England. She was a model and art owner who gave early recognition to the

Die Brücke The Brücke (Bridge), also Künstlergruppe Brücke or KG Brücke was a group of German expressionist artists formed in Dresden in 1905. Founding members were Fritz Bleyl, Erich Heckel, Ernst Ludwig Kirchner and Karl Schmidt-Rottluff. Later memb ...

group of artists.

Life

Rosa Schapire was born in

Brody Brody ( uk, Броди; russian: Броды, Brodï; pl, Brody; german: Brody; yi, בראָד, Brod) is a city in Zolochiv Raion of Lviv Oblast (province) of western Ukraine. It is located in the valley of the upper Styr River, approximately ...

, Galicia (now

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

) in 1874. Art historian Shulamith Behr notes in her ''

Jewish Women's Archive The Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to document "Jewish women's stories, elevate their voices, and inspire them to be agents of change." JWA was founded by Gail Twersky Reimer in 1995 in Brookli ...

'' article on Schapire that in 1948 Schapire "recalled her childhood memories of the nationalistic and religious divisions between the Poles and the Ruthenians (Ukra ians) in Galicia, which was part of the Habsburg Empire. Here she declared that she was predestined towards internationalism through her birth, upbringing and fate." The daughter of wealthy

Jew Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

ish parents, she was educated at home, because there were no appropriate educational facilities for her in Brody. In 1893, Schapire moved to

Hamburg (male), (female) en, Hamburger(s), Hamburgian(s) , timezone1 = Central (CET) , utc_offset1 = +1 , timezone1_DST = Central (CEST) , utc_offset1_DST = +2 , postal ...

, which, Behr notes, "as with other regional centers during the Wilhelmine period ... was in the process of forging a sense of modern identity by mobilizing public institutions, traditions and culture." In 1897, she published "Ein Wort zur Frauenemanzipation" ("A word on women’s emancipation") in the journal ''

Sozialistische Monatshefte ''Sozialistische Monatshefte'' (, "Socialist Monthly Bulletins") was a German journal edited by Joseph Bloch from 1897 to 1933 and published by the ''Verlag der Sozialistischen Monatshefte'' in Berlin. History and contents It was close to the r ...

'', in which she argued that women would find freedom "in the society of the future, in the society of socialism." She was one of the first women to receive a degree in art history from a German institution, earning her undergraduate degree from the

University of Bern The University of Bern (german: Universität Bern, french: Université de Berne, la, Universitas Bernensis) is a university in the Switzerland, Swiss capital of Bern and was founded in 1834. It is regulated and financed by the Canton of Bern. It ...

in 1902 and going on to earn a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

from

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 1904 and to pursue post-graduate studies at

Leipzig University Leipzig University (german: Universität Leipzig), in Leipzig in Saxony, Germany, is one of the world's oldest universities and the second-oldest university (by consecutive years of existence) in Germany. The university was founded on 2 December ...

. After her return to Hamburg in 1908, she worked at translation and publishing criticism. She translated Balzac,

Zola Zola may refer to: People * Zola (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * Zola (musician) (born 1977), South African entertainer * Zola (rapper), French rapper * Émile Zola, a major nineteenth-century French writer Plac ...

and the Polish art historian into German. She gave early recognition to the

group of artists. She helped found the Frauenbund zur Förderung deutscher bildenden Kunst (Women’s Society for the Advancement of German Art) in 1916. Schapire was herself a model for different painters.

Karl Schmidt-Rottluff Karl Schmidt-Rottluff (Karl Schmidt until 1905; 1 December 1884 – 10 August 1976) was a German expressionist painter and printmaker; he was one of the four founders of the artist group Die Brücke. Life and work Schmidt-Rottluff was born in ...

of the Brücke group made several portraits of her including one in 1919.

Walter Gramatté Walter Gramatté (8 January 1897 in Berlin – 9 February 1929 in Hamburg) was a German expressionist Painting, painter who specialized in magic realism. He worked in Berlin, Hamburg, Hiddensee and Barcelona. He often painted with a mystical v ...

painted her in 1920. In 1924, she published a catalogue of Karl Schmidt-Rottluff's graphic works. In 1939, she was able to escape

Nazi Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

-dominated Germany for England. There, she contributed to various art journals, such as ''

Architectural Review ''The Architectural Review'' is a monthly international architectural magazine. It has been published in London since 1896. Its articles cover the built environment – which includes landscape, building design, interior design and urbanism � ...

'', ''Eidos'', ''

Connoisseur A connoisseur ( French traditional, pre-1835, spelling of , from Middle-French , then meaning 'to be acquainted with' or 'to know somebody/something') is a person who has a great deal of knowledge about the fine arts; who is a keen appreciator ...

'' and '. She also assisted

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

with collection of material for his series ''

The Buildings of England ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

''.She is rumored to have once attacked Pevsner with a knife. She died in 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 ...

in 1954. Her attempt to donate part of her collection to British museums while she was alive was not well-received and she donated the bulk of her art collection to museums in Germany: Mannheim, Berlin, Altona, Hamburg and Cologne. Other works were sent to museums in Holland, Belgium, New Zealand (

Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki is the principal public gallery in Auckland, New Zealand. It has the most extensive collection of national and international art in New Zealand and frequently hosts travelling international exhibitions. Set be ...

), Chicago and Tel Aviv with the only British examples available at the

Victoria and Albert Museum The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...

and Leicester Museum. However, there is one portrait of her by

The Tate 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 ...

.Dr Rosa Shapire
Karl Schmidt-Rottluff, Retrieved 19 March 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Schapire, Rosa 1874 births 1954 deaths German art historians Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United Kingdom People from Brody Writers from Hamburg Women art historians 19th-century German historians 20th-century German historians 19th-century women writers 20th-century German women writers 20th-century German translators French–German translators Translators from Polish University of Bern alumni Heidelberg University alumni German women historians 19th-century German translators Emigrants from Austria-Hungary to Germany