EXHIBITIONS & PRESS

In 2019, the Ben Uri held a timely exhibition titled “Art-exit: 1939 - A Very Different Europe” (17 July - 11 September 2019) that shone a spotlight on a very different Europe 80 years ago in the lead up to, and the start of WW2. It featured the forced journeys of many of central Europe’s most distinguished and pioneering artists, who fled tyranny in search of artistic and personal freedoms. The Chinaman was on display. Pictures from the exhibition can be found here. The exhibition was attended by Margaret Dane, Dr. Mariam Chacko, Dr. John Chacko and Irmgard Hildebrandt-Chacko.

In 2018, the Ben Uri Gallery held an exhibition named “Highlights of the Ben Uri Collection: 2002 onwards” (30 October - 16 December 2018). The Chinaman was included in this exhibition.

2017

In 2017, the Sprengel Museum in Hanover, Germany held an exhibition named “revonnaH” (September 23, 2017- January 7, 2018) that displayed the works of artists between 1912 and 1933. Elsa Fraenkel’s works, The Chinaman and The Girl were on display (pictures available here).

Elsa Fraenkel's daughter, Dorian Chacko (from Bangalore, India) attended this exhibition at the age of 91. Dorian Chacko was accompanied by her son, Dr. John Chacko (from Ingolstadt, Germany), daughter, Dr. Elsa Varghese (from Bangalore, India) and grandson, Jan Chacko.

German refugee artists to Britain since 1900 - Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, Lower Galleries, 29 March – 04 June 2017 (press release here)

2015/16

In recent years, Elsa Fraenkel has gained some attention due to a growing interest in early 20th century European refugee artists in England.

A presentation on Émigré Artists involved with the Ben Uri Gallery was made at the Courtauld Institute on October 15, 2015 where slides of Elsa Fraenkel’s early works were presented. On May 27, 2016, her work was also presented by Rachel Dickson, Head of Curatorial Services, Ben Uri Gallery and Museum, London (Art, Identity and Migration) in the paper, “I hear only what my eyes tell me”: Elsa Fraenkel (1892-1975) and Erna Nonnenmacher (1889-1980) – Two Jewish Women Sculptors in Exile at the PMSA - Public Monuments and Sculpture Association and 3rd Dimension Annual Conference 2016, Émigré Sculptors in Britain (1500-2016). Elsa Fraenkel’s daughter-in-law, Margaret Dane and granddaughter, Dr. Mariam Chacko were able to attend the conference.

According to Rachel Dickson, Head of Curatorial Services of the Ben Uri “Elsa Fraenkel seems to have navigated a path with some success both within Jewish and non-Jewish artistic circles; her commissions outside the UK suggesting a lifelong interest in sitters with complex and exotic identities. Yet, as with many émigré artists, of both genders; she seems to never quite firmly establish a consistent mainstream reputation here, following the fracture of her early career - though without the ignominy of domestic service and internment. It is as if she fulfilled her early self-description: wife, mother – and also sculptor. It is not known if she was disappointed in this."

Article published in the ‘Woodford and Chigwell Times’ on January 19, 1967 - ‘Sightless heads fill a small backroom in Rokeby Gardens’

A bronze bust of the late President John F. Kennedy, created by Elsa Fraenkel, was presented by Mr. and Mrs. Ludwig Rothschild to the Greenville County Museum of Art in Greenville, South Carolina, USA on November 8, 1965. Mr. Ludwig Rothschild (Elsa Fraenkel’s brother) introduced the sculptress during the presentation and unveiling of the bust.

Dr. Reginald Le May - Art historian of Southeast Asian art, Essex Art Club Annual Exhibition. It was the only sculpture in the exhibition.

Queen Sirikit, Queen of Thailand - Crowned Head, Society of Portrait Sculptors Exhibition, London, November 18, 1964.

Sri Aurobindo -  Saint and philosopher; Essex Art Club exhibition at the Royal Exchange London 1957

A silver-bronze portrait of the late Princess Tsahai (daughter of Emperor Haile Selassie), created by Elsa Fraenkel, was sent from London to the Princess Tsahai Memorial Hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes open), Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes closed), Very Rev. Haham Dr. M. Gaster, Princess Tsahai - Photoviews of Sculptures and Original Drawings by Elsa Fraenkel - Chitrasala, New Delhi, April 17, 1952.

The cast of the late Princess Tsahai, daughter of Haile Sellassie, Emperor of Ethiopia, was displayed at the Ben Uri Art Gallery at an exhibition showcasing ‘Contemporary Jewish Artists, Exhibition of Paintings Sculptures Drawings’, June 18 - July 21, 1950

Ching San Chou - Young Chinese student of architecture; Leighton House Museum, London, Modern Masters and Artists of Today at 20 Brook Street, Autumn 1948

1943

1942

1941

Dr. Conrades, Pianist Kraal, Frank, Trollmann/Gypsy Boxer, Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes open), Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes closed), Very Rev. Haham Dr. M. Gaster, Madeleine, Dr. Stella Kramrisch, British Art Centre, Stafford Gallery, London, May 22, 1940

Dr. Stella Kramrisch - Professor of Indian Art at the University of Calcutta. She later became the curator, Indian section of the Philadelphia Museum of Art, USA - Royal Academy exhibition, London, January, 1940

Very Rev. Haham Dr. M. Gaster- Rabbi and Jewish writer - Leicester Galleries, London, June 4, 1938/39

Kadra - Arabian Dancing Girl - Leicester Galleries – Coronation Exhibition, May 14- July 11, 1937

Ching San Chou -Young Chinese student of architecture – 36th Exhibition of the Women’s International Art Club 1937

1936

Madeleine, Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes open), Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes closed), Trollmann/Gypsy Boxer, Head of a young man, Mask - Leicester Galleries London March 1936

Prof. Leopold Nelson, Mask of a Musician, Pianist Kraal, Ching San Chou, Kadra, Trollmann/Gypsy Boxer, Dr. Conrades, Madeleine, Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes open), Dr. Conrad Mueller (eyes closed) - Kunsthandlung Victor Hartberg, Berlin, September 11 to October 5, 1932

An exhibition in Braunschweig was organised by Der Gesellschaft Freunde der Jungen Kunst and showcased three artists including the famous painter Schmidt-Rottluff and Elsa Fraenkel. The exhibition opened on February 14, 1932 and was held in "The Schloss" (Castle) of Braunschweig. It included several of Elsa Fraenkel’s sculptures (it is not specified how many) of which the critic specially mentioned 2 (Prof. Leopold Nelson and Dr. Conrades).

Prof. Leopold Nelson, Mask of a Musician/Frauenmaske, Ching San Chou, Kadra - Kunsthalle Mannheim 1931

The Hanover newspaper, the Hannoverscher Kurier, published an article on leading women artists in 1929 in its supplement ‘Die Frau’. Else Fraenkel was the first to be written about.

Copyright © 2019. Estate of Elsa Fraenkel. All Rights Reserved.