Katharina Szelinski-Singer facts for kids
Katharina Szelinski-Singer, born Katharina Singer (May 24, 1918 – December 20, 2010), was a German sculptor. She was born near Heydekrug in the Memelland. From 1945 until her death, she lived in Berlin.
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Katharina Szelinski-Singer: A Sculptor's Journey
Katharina Szelinski-Singer was a very talented sculptor. She studied at the Berlin University of the Arts. There, she was a top student of the famous artist Richard Scheibe.
Honoring the Rubble Women
Soon after finishing her studies in the mid-1950s, Katharina received an important job. She was asked to create a sculpture for a park in Berlin called "Hasenheide." This sculpture was meant to honor the German Trümmerfrauen. This German word means "rubble women." These women played a huge part in rebuilding Berlin after World War II. They cleared away the broken pieces of damaged buildings.
Her sculpture, made of limestone, is still her most famous public artwork. After this, she received a few more smaller jobs. From 1956 to 1986, she mainly worked on restoring art. She helped fix artworks at the Charlottenburg Palace.
An Artist's Unique Path
Katharina Szelinski-Singer was seen as a bit different in the art world. Even though she had other jobs, she kept making sculptures. But her work was not often shown in art exhibitions until 1987.
This changed in 1987–88. The Georg-Kolbe-Museum held a big exhibition just for her. They showed 45 of her sculptures. This was a very important moment for her art.
Her Sculptures and Style
Katharina Szelinski-Singer created about one hundred sculptures in total. All of her works showed real shapes, mostly bodies or heads of women. Often, these sculptures looked like her. They were also inspired by things from her own life.
She created a series of sculptures called Köpfe, which means "Heads" in German. With these works, she started to develop her own unique style. She began to use more bronze and gypsum. Before this, she mostly worked with natural stone. Art experts say her work fits in with the "Berliner Bildhauerschule" (Berlin sculptor school).
Katharina Szelinski-Singer passed away on December 20, 2010, in Berlin. She was 92 years old. She was buried at the Friedhof Heerstraße.
