Waldemar Raemisch Explained

Waldemar Raemisch
Occupation:	Sculptor
Spouse:	Gertrude Ruth Gallad (m. 1919–1955; death)
Birth Date:	19 August 1888
Birth Place:	Berlin, Germany
Death Place:	Rome, Italy

Waldemar Raemisch (19 August 1888  - 16 April 1955) was a German-born American sculptor and educator.^[1]

Biography

Waldemar Raemisch was born 19 August 1888 in Berlin, Germany. In 1919, he married metalsmith and enamelist, Gertrude Ruth (née Gallad).^[2] After marriage his wife went by the name Ruth Raemisch.

His work was part of the sculpture event in the art competition at the 1928 Summer Olympics.^[3] Prior to World War II, he taught at the in Berlin.^[4] In 1937, Raemisch was forced to leave Germany due to the rise in Nazi power, his wife was Jewish.^[5]

The same year, starting in 1937, Raemisch began to teach at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). He later served as the head of the Sculpture Department at RISD from 1946 to 1954. Raemisch had many notable students including Peter Muller-Munk,^[6] Gilbert Franklin,^[7] Cornelius C. Richards,^[8] and Wolfgang Behl.^{[9] [10]}

Death and legacy

He had traveled to Rome in 1955, to complete a 19 figure sculpture that would be public art in Philadelphia.^[11] On 16 April 1955, he died at Salvator Mundi Hospital in Rome after an emergency surgery on his intestines.

After Raemisch's death, Raemisch's former student and a sculpture professor at RISD, Gilbert A. Franklin (1919–2004) completed the 19 figure sculpture commission.^[12]

His work is included in the public museum collections including at the Smithsonian American Art Museum,^[13] Rhode Island School of Design Museum,^[14] Harvard Art Museums,^[15] Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts,^[16] McNay Art Museum,^[17] Currier Museum of Art,^[18] among others.

Notes and References

1. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch . American Art . 18 October 2020.
2. Book: Jazzar. Bernard N.. Painting with Fire: Masters of Enameling in America, 1930-1980. Nelson. Harold B.. 2006. Long Beach Museum of Art. 978-0-9712772-8-1. 84. en.
3. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch . Olympedia . 29 July 2020.
4. Web site: Wasserman. Nadine. The Carnegie's retrospective on silversmith and product-designer Peter Muller-Munk is thoroughly satisfying. 2021-06-01. Pittsburgh City Paper. en. Raemisch was a professor at the Unified State Schools for Fine and Applied Art. The school was born out of a merger between two schools in Berlin..
5. Book: White, Theo B.. The Philadelphia Art Alliance: Fifty Years, 1915-1965. 2017-01-30. University of Pennsylvania Press. 978-1-5128-1933-5. 110–111. en.
6. Book: American Silver in the Art Institute of Chicago. 2016-01-01. Yale University Press. Art Institute of Chicago. 978-0-300-22236-4. 217. en.
7. Web site: September 8, 1955 . Student Completing Raemisch Sculptures . 2022-03-05 . Newspapers.com . Pasadena Independent . 28 . en.
8. Web site: 5 July 1957. Watchung Man Gets Art Post. subscription. 2021-06-01. Newspapers.com. The Courier-News. 5. en.
9. Web site: 18 October 1994. Wolfgang Behl; Sculptor, Professor of Art. subscription. 2021-06-01. Newspapers.com. Hartford Courant. 72. en.
10. Web site: Wolfgang Behl, Sculptor and Teacher, 76. 2021-06-01. Times Machine. The New York Times. Section B, Page 10. en.
11. Web site: 17 April 1955. Waldemar Raemisch. subscription. 2021-06-01. Newspapers.com. The Morning Call. 38. en.
12. Web site: 18 August 1955. Student is completing Raemisch sculptures. subscription. 2021-06-01. Newspapers.com. Lebanon Daily News. 9. en.
13. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch. 2021-06-01. Smithsonian American Art Museum. en-US.
14. Web site: Vase. 2021-06-01. RISD Museum.
15. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch, Berlin, Germany 1888 - 1955 Rome, Italy. 2021-06-01. Harvard Art Museums. en.
16. Web site: 2014-12-28. Waldemar Raemisch, "Displaced Person" (1942). PAFA - Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. en-US.
17. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch (American, b.1888, d.1955). 2021-06-01. McNay Art Museum. en.
18. Web site: Waldemar Raemisch. 2021-06-01. Currier Museum of Art.