Lot number 57 - Auction 144
MUTTER MIT KIND (UM 1938)

GERTA OVERBECK 1898 Dortmund - 1977 Lünen MOTHER WITH CHILD (C. 1938) Oil on canvas. 84 x 69 cm (f. 86,5 x 71,5 cm). Signed lower right 'G. Overbeck'. Verso: inscr. 'Overbeck-Schenk, Cappenberg b/Lünen'. Part. rubbed., part. min. stained, minimally chipped, lower margin slightly dam. Frame. Provenance: Private collection Lünen acquired directly from the artist; most recently Westphalian private collection. The artist Gerta Overbeck (1898-1977) is one of the key figures of New Objectivity in Hannover. Born in Dortmund in 1898, she completed her teacher training in drawing at the Düsseldorf Seminar under Prof. Kunowski in 1918, successfully passing her final exams. The societal upheavals of the post-war period and her desire for artistic development led her in 1919 to the School of Applied Arts in Hanover. There, she studied in the graphics class of Prof. Burger-Mühlfeld, whose progressive approach and methodology aligned with her creative drive and the spirit of the time. During this period, she formed close friendships, notably with artist Grethe Jürgens, who also became associated with New Objectivity. Until 1931, Overbeck worked as an art teacher at various grammar schools in Dortmund before deciding to dedicate herself entirely to painting as a freelance artist. Her work is characterized by a poignant depiction of the realities of working-class life during the Weimar Republic. She paid particular attention to the perspectives of women and mothers, drawing inspiration from her own experience as a single mother. Her motifs capture scenes from the everyday life of the middle and lower classes, blending observed details with her personal experiences, such as the omnipresent threat of poverty. In 1938, she returned to Lünen with her daughter Frauke after the dissolution of her brief marriage to Gustav Schenk (1937-1940). During this period, the two works presented here were likely created, reflecting themes tied to her personal environment and her return to her hometown. Overbeck's work gained broader recognition only in the 1960s, when a retrospective exhibition by the Hanover Art Association focused on art of the 1920s brought her oeuvre into the public eye. This marked the beginning of a series of further exhibitions and publications that acknowledged her artistic contributions. However, her body of work remains largely underexplored in art historical scholarship. This makes Overbeck one of the few female artists of New Objectivity whose oeuvre still awaits comprehensive academic and public recognition. Overbeck passed away in Lünen in 1977, leaving behind a substantial body of work that vividly captures the social and economic realities of the interwar period.