You are bidding on onehandwritten, signed letter the artist Wisa von Westphalen (1910-1993).

Dated Helmern over Peckelsheim, the 9th August 1949.

Aimed at Hella von Oeynhausen, b. by Oven (* 15. December 1905 in Görlitz) at Gut Reelsen (Bad Driburg).

Condolence letteron the death of her husband, the forest assessor and first lieutenant Falk-Arnd von Oeynhausen (* 17. February 1914 in Berlin as the son of the landowner, major and forest assessor Falk-Arnd von Oeynhausen, 1883-1954, and Louise, née. Jackstein, 1883-1959, died. on the 31st July 1949 in Detmold after a riding accident). The marriage took place on the 16th. January 1943 in Berlin.

"I know that every word is too weak to give you even a little comfort, but I would like to tell you how warmly Wilhelm and I feel for you. [...] With deepest sympathy, Wilhelm kisses your hand and greets you, your Aloysia Westphalen." -- Wisa von Westphalen's actual name was Aloysia.

The recipient wrote down the author's name in red pen.

Scope:2 p. (21 x 15.3 cm; without envelope).

Condition: paper slightly browned; good condition. bplease note the pictures too!

Internal note: Oeynbeige, condolences

About Wisa von Westphalen (source: wikipedia):

Wisa von Westphalen (* 12. October 1910 in Helmern as Baroness Aloysia Jenny Maria Wilhelmine von Spiegel zu Peckelsheim; † 16. January 1993 ibid; Aloysia Countess von Westphalen zu Fürstenberg) was a German painter. She became known primarily as a portrait and landscape painter.

Life

Family: Wisa von Westphalen was born in 1910 as the eldest child of district administrator and hereditary marshal Joseph Raban Georg Karl Freiherr von Spiegel zu Peckelsheim (1878–1949) and Gertrut von Amelunxen (1887–1957). She grew up on her parents' manor in Helmern.

At the age of 13 she went to a boarding school in Holland. After graduating from school in 1929, she spent time with her aunt, Abbess Maria Anna Benedicta von Spiegel, in the Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburg in Eichstätt. She then moved to the Pannwitz (now Pannowicze) estate near Breslau to live with Silesian relatives for a few years, where she worked on agriculture. This property fell to Wisa von Westphalen through adoption.

Since 1929 she bore the name of her adoptive aunt: Countess of Bocholtz-Asseburg.

In 1945 she married the merchant Karl Wilhelm Clemens Joseph Reichsgraf von Westphalen zu Fürstenberg (1907–1982). The marriage had two sons, Raban (* 1945) and Benedikt (* 1950). She lived with her family on the “Gipsmühle”, her father's property - near her parents' birthplace in Helmern. The painter set up a studio here and worked until a few months before her death in 1993.

Artistic career: From 1935 to 1943 she studied painting in Munich with Petro Kálmán, Carl Hans Schrader-Velgen and Carl Otto Müller. The Hungarian painter Petro Kálmán taught her how to deal with portraits, people in a resting position. Professor Schrader-Velgen, on the other hand, placed value on movement and people in nature, which resulted in his later preference for the landscape. This may also have laid the foundation for animal studies.

Her third teacher, Müller, taught her again how to depict landscapes; At the same time, however, she dealt with the shape and pictorial representation of floral motifs.

These three main motifs: landscape, flowers and the portrait accompanied the painter throughout her development, but not with the same intensity. The zeitgeist of the time certainly also played a role in the choice of motif. The artist's role models can also be seen in the way she is depicted. If you look at the portraits that she made during her time as a student and later, parallels to Wilhelm Leibl can be seen, especially to his early works. The lightly applied line, which is easily recognizable without breaking up the contours of the face, is a feature that can also be found in her work. She also designs the incidence of light very similarly to Leibl, by illuminating one half of the face and leaving the other in shadow. This tendency does not appear to be a coincidence given the fact that Petro Kálmán was Leibl's master student. It was only much later and less pronounced that the painter's preference for Emil Nolde became apparent. She took over his colorful expression of feelings and moods in landscape images. Nolde's expressive, strongly psychological coloring can be found in some of her works, but mostly much more realistic and relaxed.

During her studies she dealt almost exclusively with oil paintings on canvas or thin wooden panels. As further techniques are developed, these types of oil paintings are pushed back further and further until they are almost only used for portraits and some flower paintings. Watercolor, which initially took the place of an aid in mixed media, took on a life of its own over the years. Ultimately, it represents a large part of the work.

From the 1970s onwards, some works were also created in monotype, a technique she had adopted from Franz Sales Gebhardt-Westerbuchberg. Some of the works are designed with color restrictions. Often only three to four colors are used, but these are then finely nuanced. The color of the background, usually a muted white, is included - the brightness of the background is used as a light-giving element. Free areas remain illuminated. The brightness contrasts created in this way make the images appear very three-dimensional.

The thematic diversity and the painter's different ways of handling them are remarkable.

Wisa von Westphalen has had numerous exhibitions, including the Gallery of Artists and House of German Art in Munich and the Schanze Free Artists' Community in Münster. Also in Darmstadt, Stuttgart, Hofgeismar and Warburg. As well as solo exhibitions in Höxter, New York, Düsseldorf, Wiesbaden, Karlsruhe, Bad Krozingen, Bremen, Münster, Bielefeld, Kassel, Gütersloh, Traben-Trarbach, Saarbrücken, Willebadessen and Kronberg im Taunus. From 1967 to 1977 she also had regular exhibitions in the state baths, Bad Salzuflen, Bad Oeynhausen and Bad Nauheim.

During her worldwide travels she made studies - these works reflect impressions and experiences - many landscape pictures, portraits and still lifes were later created from them in her studio on the “Gipsmühle” in Helmern.

Today her pictures can be found in a number of church and state institutions, including Siegburg Abbey and the University of Hanover, and in various museums such as: B. the Warburg City Museum, publicly exhibited. The Paderborn Monastery has approx. 30 works that can be seen as a permanent exhibition in the Hardehausen-Scherfede rural adult education center. In Großbodungen Castle and in the Großbodungen bower there were another approx. 80 of Westphalia's works will be on permanent display until the end of June 2018. Many works are also in private ownership, and a catalog raisonné is documented. In 2018, the community of Willebadessen-Helmern had the well-known sculptor Raphael Strauch erect a memorial plaque for the artist not far from the house where she was born. On the 22nd The memorial plaque, a self-portrait cast in epoxy resin, was presented to the public in June 2018.

Works (selection)

Old farmer's wife at the spinning wheel. Image no. 6. Oil (1940)

Knitting woman. Oil (60 × 50, circa 1941)

Autumn landscape. Image no. 24. Oil (25.5 × 35.5, 1943)

Sunny heath with stable (Wilsede). Oil (60 × 50, 1949)

Schwalenberg with the castle. Oil (32 × 38.5, 1950)

Anemones. Oil (61 × 51, 1965/70)

Magnolias. Oil (90 × 60, 1965/70)

Self-portrait. Oil (60 × 70, 1967)

Gray you Roi. Watercolor (24 × 17, 1968)

Uhu. Monotype (60 × 80, 1970)

Magnolia branch. Watercolor (60 × 80, 1972)

Flowers on a blue background. Oil (60 × 80, 1972)

House in the Hebrides. Mixed Media (40 × 50, 1973)

Raised moor in Solling. Mixed Media (60 × 80, 1975)

Pasture by the water. Watercolor (50 × 70, 1976)

Exhibitions (selection)

Solo exhibitions

1947–1969: Höxter, Henze Art Cabinet

1961: Munich, Malura Gallery

1967: New York, Chodroff Galleries

1967/1969/1971/1974/1977: Bad Salzuflen state swimming pool, foyer

1968/1970/1975: Bad Oeynhausen state swimming pool, foyer

1969/1971: Bad Nauheim state spa, exhibition rooms in the spa

1970: Düsseldorf, Galerie May

1970: Wiesbaden, Dahms Gallery

1970: Karlsruhe, Heinrich Hertz House

1970: Bad Krozingen, Kurhaus

1971: Bremen, Godenwind

1973/1976: Galerie Münster

1973: Bielefeld, Fischer Art Cabinet

1975: Kassel, Small Gallery

1976: Gütersloh, Galerie Friedmann

1979: Studio exhibition in the Gipsmühle

1982: Traben-Trarbach, Brückentorgalerie

1983: Studio exhibition in the Gipsmühle

1983/1989: Saarbrücken, Galerie Neuheisel

1986: Willebadessen, European Sculpture Park

1987: Kronberg, recipe

1990: Höxter, goldsmith Dött

2016: Warburg, Hardehausen rural adult education center

2018: Willebadessen, Willebadessen Castle

Collective exhibitions

1943: Munich, Professional Association of Munich Artists

1960: Münster, Schanze Free Artists' Community

1960–1965: Lippe-Ravensberg Art Circle

1965/1966: Munich, House of German Art

1968: Darmstadt, International artists see animals and hunting

1969: Stuttgart, German painters see Provence

1974: Hofgeismar, art circle

1980: Warburg, exhibition in honor of the painter Hans Kohlschein

Travel

1929/1939: Italy

1939/1971/1975/1984: Norway / Spitsbergen

1951/1955/1968/1974: Southern France / Provence

1952/1958: Ticino

1952/1970/1979: Spain / Andalusia

1956/1985: Egypt

1959: Near East

1960/1973: England / Northern and Central England

1962/1984: Southern Italy

1962/1972/1988: Aegean / Crete

1963/1972/1986: France / Normandy, Brittany, Périgord

1964/1982/1986/1988: Yugoslavia / Greece

1967/1968/1969/1980/1986/1990: North Africa, East Africa, South Africa

1980: Brazil, Caribbean, Ireland

1983: Jordan, Israel

1983: Moscow, Leningrad

1985: Colombia, Ecuador, Galapagos

1988: Tierra del Fuego, Patagonia, Easter Island

1989: Indonesia, Sumatra, Java

These three main motifs: landscape, flowers and the portrait accompanied the painter throughout her development, but not with the same intensity. The zeitgeist of the time certainly also played a role in the choice of motif. The artist's role models can also be seen in the way she is depicted. If you look at the portraits that she made during her time as a student and later, parallels to Wilhelm Leibl can be seen, especially to his early works. The lightly applied line, which is easily recognizable without breaking up the contours of the face, is a feature that can also be found in her work. She also designs the incidence of light very similarly to Leibl, by illuminating one half of the face and leaving the other in shadow. This tendency does not appear to be a coincidence given the fact t