370 - Maria Hiller-Foell (Odessa 1880 - 1943 Stuttgart)

Maria Hiller-Foell (Odessa 1880 - 1943 Stuttgart) Flower still life, 1925 oil/canvas 67,5 x 62,5 cm signed M. H. FOELL. verso dated 1925 SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE °€ 1400 - 2400 STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE °€ 1400 The German painter Marusja Foell came from a family of German descent in Odessa. During her childhood, the family relocated to Stuttgart via Munich. There, starting in 1905, Foell studied at the Royal Württemberg Academy of Fine Arts, initially under Gustav Igler. In 1906, she participated in Adolf Hölzel’s first annual excursion to Pfullingen, and in 1910 she transferred to his class for women, where she became a master student by 1913. Within Hölzel’s circle—which included Ida Kerkovius, Oskar Schlemmer, and Willi Baumeister—she distinguished herself through bold figure compositions. In 1913, Foell joined the Württemberg Association of Women Painters. Upon completing her studies in 1914, she and Luise Deicher became the first female artists to receive the Academy’s silver medal. As a freelance artist, she gained recognition in 1923 when the city of Karlsruhe purchased one of her works—the first piece by a female artist to enter its collection. That same year, she married the painter and architect Theodor Hiller. Hiller-Foell’s paintings combine Adolf Hölzel’s approach to color and form with influences from Expressionism and New Objectivity. Hölzel’s color theory—comparable in its approach to the later ideas of Johannes Itten—also sparked her interest in glass. Between 1920 and 1932, she received significant public commissions for stained-glass windows and murals in churches. At the same time, she was a founding member of the "Jury-free Artists' Association of Stuttgart" (Juryfreie Künstlervereinigung Stuttgart). Public commissions ceased after 1933. The National Socialists branded her art "degenerate"; in 1937, the works Russian Bride (held at the Ulm City Museum) and Woman Spinning (from the Municipal Art Gallery in Worms) were confiscated. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights and platform fee. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer's premium and platform fee. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.