Good overall condition, see photo. This work comes from a part of the studio’s collection that was stored in a drawing box, see attached photo; other works are available in my shop, including abstractions from the 1930s and drawings from the Art Brut period after the 1950s. ⸻ ⸻ Biography of Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss (1892 – after 1966) Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, born in 1892, is a Franco-German artist whose work spans several major movements in modern art: abstraction, engaged art, and a freer vein close to Art Brut in the later decades of her life. She is also known for her artistic and personal collaboration with Otto Freundlich, a major figure in spiritual abstraction. ⸻ ? Education and early years Few details are known about her initial training, but she was active in Paris from the 1920s. She attended avant-garde circles, where she met Otto Freundlich, a sculptor and theorist of abstraction of German origin, with whom she shared her life and studio. She became an essential collaborator of Freundlich, contributing to 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 color theories. She produced gouaches and drawings where the circle and spiral dominate, evoking cosmic harmony. She was in contact with Sonia Delaunay, with whom she shared a colorist sensibility and an interest in the integration of art into daily life (clothing, textiles, objects). Although less well-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 southern 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 preserved the legacy of their joint work. Her post-war work, freer and more 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 writing, characterized by irregular forms, primitive figures, personal symbols. This vein associates her with Art Brut or a form of naive expressionism, in the lineage of Dubuffet. She pursued a discreet yet coherent body of work, asserting a deeply personal aesthetic, on the margins of dominant currents. ⸻ Legacy and recognition Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss remains today an overlooked but significant figure in European abstraction. Her work is inseparable from that of Otto Freundlich, with whom she was an artistic partner and guardian of memory after the war. She continues to be rediscovered through exhibitions dedicated to Freundlich or to female abstraction. Type: Gouache Style: 1940-1960 Genre: Art brut, Outsider art Features: On Paper Theme: Character
Good overall condition, see photo. This work comes from a part of the studio’s collection that was stored in a drawing box, see attached photo; other works are available in my shop, including abstractions from the 1930s and drawings from the Art Brut period after the 1950s. ⸻ ⸻ Biography of Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss (1892 – after 1966) Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss, born in 1892, is a Franco-German artist whose work spans several major movements in modern art: abstraction, engaged art, and a freer vein close to Art Brut in the later decades of her life. She is also known for her artistic and personal collaboration with Otto Freundlich, a major figure in spiritual abstraction. ⸻ ? Education and early years Few details are known about her initial training, but she was active in Paris from the 1920s. She attended avant-garde circles, where she met Otto Freundlich, a sculptor and theorist of abstraction of German origin, with whom she shared her life and studio. She became an essential collaborator of Freundlich, contributing to 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 color theories. She produced gouaches and drawings where the circle and spiral dominate, evoking cosmic harmony. She was in contact with Sonia Delaunay, with whom she shared a colorist sensibility and an interest in the integration of art into daily life (clothing, textiles, objects). Although less well-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 southern 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 preserved the legacy of their joint work. Her post-war work, freer and more 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 writing, characterized by irregular forms, primitive figures, personal symbols. This vein associates her with Art Brut or a form of naive expressionism, in the lineage of Dubuffet. She pursued a discreet yet coherent body of work, asserting a deeply personal aesthetic, on the margins of dominant currents. ⸻ Legacy and recognition Jeanne Kosnick-Kloss remains today an overlooked but significant figure in European abstraction. Her work is inseparable from that of Otto Freundlich, with whom she was an artistic partner and guardian of memory after the war. She continues to be rediscovered through exhibitions dedicated to Freundlich or to female abstraction. Type: Gouache Style: 1940-1960 Genre: Art brut, Outsider art Features: On Paper Theme: Character