Good general condition, see photo. This artwork comes from a part of the studio's collection that was in a drawing box, see the attached photo; other works are available in my shop, including abstractions from the 1930s and drawings from the Art Brut period after the 1950s. The piece is signed at the bottom right with the initials "K. K." This work fully fits into Kosnick-Kloss's abstract period, influenced by her exchanges with the Parisian avant-garde and her artistic affinities with Sonia Delaunay.
⸻ Biography of Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss (1892 – after 1966) Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, born in 1892, is a Franco-German artist whose work crosses several major currents of modern art: abstraction, engaged art, and a freer vein, close to Art Brut, in the last decades of her life. She is also known for her artistic and personal collaboration with Otto Freundlich, a major figure of spiritual abstraction.
⸻ ? Training and early years Few details are known about her initial training, but she was active in Paris from the 1920s. She frequented avant-garde circles, where she met Otto Freundlich, a German-born sculptor and theorist of abstraction, with whom she shared her life and studio. She became an essential collaborator of Freundlich, participating in his work and sharing his ideas on the universality of art and the spirituality of forms.
⸻ ? Abstract period (1920s-1930s) In the 1930s, Kosnick-Kloss developed a rhythmic geometric abstraction, influenced by constructivism, orphism (from Robert and Sonia Delaunay), and theories on color. She produced gouaches and drawings where the circle and the spiral dominate, evoking cosmic harmony. She was in contact with Sonia Delaunay, with whom she shared a colorist sensitivity and an interest in integrating art into daily life (clothing, textiles, objects). Although less known, Kosnick-Kloss participated in this female ecosystem of abstraction, often overshadowed by official history.
⸻ ? Political engagement and exile With the rise of Nazism, Kosnick-Kloss and Freundlich exiled themselves to the south of France. Otto Freundlich, of Jewish origin and considered by the Nazis as a representative of "degenerate art," was arrested in 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where he was murdered. Jeanne survived the war and maintained the legacy of their joint work. Her post-war work, more free and intuitive, seems marked by this trauma.
⸻ ? Art Brut / free expression period (1950s-1960s) In the 1950s-60s, Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss adopted a more spontaneous plastic language, marked by irregular forms, primitive figures, and personal symbols. This vein aligns her with Art Brut or a form of naïve expressionism, in the lineage of Dubuffet. She continued to produce a discreet yet coherent body of work, asserting a deeply personal aesthetic, on the fringes of dominant currents.
⸻ Legacy and recognition Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss remains today a little-known but significant figure in European abstraction. Her work is inseparable from that of Otto Freundlich, of whom she was the artistic partner and guardian of memory after the war. She continues to be rediscovered through exhibitions dedicated to Freundlich or female abstraction.
Recommended products Provided by Très Beau Dessin Paper 1940 Jeanne Kosnick Kloss abstract pencil abstraction See the product Type: Pencil Country of origin: France Style: 1940 Genre: Abstract Features: On Paper Theme: Abstract
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Description
Good general condition, see photo. This artwork comes from a part of the studio's collection that was in a drawing box, see the attached photo; other works are available in my shop, including abstractions from the 1930s and drawings from the Art Brut period after the 1950s. The piece is signed at the bottom right with the initials "K. K." This work fully fits into Kosnick-Kloss's abstract period, influenced by her exchanges with the Parisian avant-garde and her artistic affinities with Sonia Delaunay.
⸻ Biography of Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss (1892 – after 1966) Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, born in 1892, is a Franco-German artist whose work crosses several major currents of modern art: abstraction, engaged art, and a freer vein, close to Art Brut, in the last decades of her life. She is also known for her artistic and personal collaboration with Otto Freundlich, a major figure of spiritual abstraction.
⸻ ? Training and early years Few details are known about her initial training, but she was active in Paris from the 1920s. She frequented avant-garde circles, where she met Otto Freundlich, a German-born sculptor and theorist of abstraction, with whom she shared her life and studio. She became an essential collaborator of Freundlich, participating in his work and sharing his ideas on the universality of art and the spirituality of forms.
⸻ ? Abstract period (1920s-1930s) In the 1930s, Kosnick-Kloss developed a rhythmic geometric abstraction, influenced by constructivism, orphism (from Robert and Sonia Delaunay), and theories on color. She produced gouaches and drawings where the circle and the spiral dominate, evoking cosmic harmony. She was in contact with Sonia Delaunay, with whom she shared a colorist sensitivity and an interest in integrating art into daily life (clothing, textiles, objects). Although less known, Kosnick-Kloss participated in this female ecosystem of abstraction, often overshadowed by official history.
⸻ ? Political engagement and exile With the rise of Nazism, Kosnick-Kloss and Freundlich exiled themselves to the south of France. Otto Freundlich, of Jewish origin and considered by the Nazis as a representative of "degenerate art," was arrested in 1943 and deported to Majdanek, where he was murdered. Jeanne survived the war and maintained the legacy of their joint work. Her post-war work, more free and intuitive, seems marked by this trauma.
⸻ ? Art Brut / free expression period (1950s-1960s) In the 1950s-60s, Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss adopted a more spontaneous plastic language, marked by irregular forms, primitive figures, and personal symbols. This vein aligns her with Art Brut or a form of naïve expressionism, in the lineage of Dubuffet. She continued to produce a discreet yet coherent body of work, asserting a deeply personal aesthetic, on the fringes of dominant currents.
⸻ Legacy and recognition Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss remains today a little-known but significant figure in European abstraction. Her work is inseparable from that of Otto Freundlich, of whom she was the artistic partner and guardian of memory after the war. She continues to be rediscovered through exhibitions dedicated to Freundlich or female abstraction.
Recommended products Provided by Très Beau Dessin Paper 1940 Jeanne Kosnick Kloss abstract pencil abstraction See the product Type: Pencil Country of origin: France Style: 1940 Genre: Abstract Features: On Paper Theme: Abstract