Waldemar Raemisch (19 August 1888 – 16 April 1955) was a German-born American sculptor and educator.[1]

Waldemar Raemisch
Born(1888-08-19)19 August 1888
Berlin, Germany
Died16 April 1955(1955-04-16) (aged 66)
Rome, Italy
OccupationSculptor
SpouseGertrude Ruth Gallad (m. 1919–1955; death)
Sculpture of a Preacher (1952) by Waldemar Raemisch in Samuel Memorial, Fairmount Park, Philadelphia

Biography

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Waldemar Raemisch was born 19 August 1888 in Berlin, Germany. In 1919, he married metalsmith and enamelist, Gertrude Ruth (née Gallad).[2] After marriage his wife went by the name Ruth Raemisch.

His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.[3] Prior to World War II, he taught at the United State Schools for Fine and Applied Arts [de] in Berlin.[4] In 1937, Raemisch was forced to leave Germany due to the rise in Nazi power, his wife was Jewish.[5]

The same year, starting in 1937, Raemisch began to teach at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD).[5] He later served as the head of the Sculpture Department at RISD from 1946 to 1954.[6] Raemisch had many notable students including Peter Muller-Munk,[4][7] Gilbert Franklin,[8] Cornelius C. Richards,[9] and Wolfgang Behl.[10][11]

Death and legacy

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He had traveled to Rome in 1955, to complete a 19 figure sculpture that would be public art in Philadelphia.[12] On 16 April 1955, he died at Salvator Mundi Hospital in Rome after an emergency surgery on his intestines.[12]

After Raemisch's death, Raemisch's former student and a sculpture professor at RISD, Gilbert A. Franklin (1919–2004) completed the 19 figure sculpture commission.[13]

His work is included in the public museum collections including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,[14] Rhode Island School of Design Museum,[6] Harvard Art Museums,[15] Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,[16] McNay Art Museum,[17] Currier Museum of Art,[18] among others.

References

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  1. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch". American Art. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  2. ^ Jazzar, Bernard N.; Nelson, Harold B. (2006). Painting with Fire: Masters of Enameling in America, 1930-1980. Long Beach Museum of Art. p. 84. ISBN 978-0-9712772-8-1.
  3. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch". Olympedia. Retrieved 29 July 2020.
  4. ^ a b Wasserman, Nadine. "The Carnegie's retrospective on silversmith and product-designer Peter Muller-Munk is thoroughly satisfying". Pittsburgh City Paper. Retrieved 1 June 2021. Raemisch was a professor at the Unified State Schools for Fine and Applied Art. The school was born out of a merger between two schools in Berlin.
  5. ^ a b White, Theo B. (30 January 2017). The Philadelphia Art Alliance: Fifty Years, 1915-1965. University of Pennsylvania Press. pp. 110–111. ISBN 978-1-5128-1933-5.
  6. ^ a b "Vase". RISD Museum. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  7. ^ American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago. Art Institute of Chicago. Yale University Press. 1 January 2016. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-300-22236-4.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
  8. ^ "Student Completing Raemisch Sculptures". Newspapers.com. Pasadena Independent. 8 September 1955. p. 28. Retrieved 5 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Watchung Man Gets Art Post". Newspapers.com. The Courier-News. 5 July 1957. p. 5. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  10. ^ "Wolfgang Behl; Sculptor, Professor of Art". Newspapers.com. Hartford Courant. 18 October 1994. p. 72. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  11. ^ "Wolfgang Behl, Sculptor and Teacher, 76". Times Machine. The New York Times. p. Section B, Page 10. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  12. ^ a b "Waldemar Raemisch". Newspapers.com. The Morning Call. 17 April 1955. p. 38. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  13. ^ "Student is completing Raemisch sculptures". Newspapers.com. Lebanon Daily News. 18 August 1955. p. 9. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  14. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch". Smithsonian American Art Museum. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  15. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch, Berlin, Germany 1888 - 1955 Rome, Italy". Harvard Art Museums. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  16. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch, "Displaced Person" (1942)". PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. 28 December 2014.
  17. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch (American, b.1888, d.1955)". McNay Art Museum. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  18. ^ "Waldemar Raemisch". Currier Museum of Art. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
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