Renée Sintenis

A distinctive artist of modern Berlin

Renée Sintenis was born in 1888 in Glatz, Silesia, and settled with her family in Berlin while still young. She studied decorative sculpture in the city but left formal training before completing the course. Building an independent career required persistence, and by the 1920s she had become one of the most recognisable artists of the Weimar Republic.

Sintenis was known not only for her work but also for an independent public presence that challenged conventional expectations of women at the time. In 1931 she became one of the first women appointed to the Prussian Academy of Arts. The National Socialist regime forced her departure in 1934. After the war, she again received major recognition in Berlin and taught as a professor.

Animals, athletes and the instant before movement

Young animals occupy a special place in Sintenis’s sculpture and works on paper. Foals, deer, dogs and other creatures are not presented as polished symbols. Their slightly uncertain stance, alertness and physical energy remain visible. Sintenis was interested in the moment when a body gathers itself, shifts weight or turns towards something outside the composition.

Athletes gave her another way to study concentrated movement. Riders, runners, footballers and boxers appear poised between rest and action. A bent knee or inclined torso can carry the entire rhythm of the work. This economy makes her drawings especially compelling: a few lines establish anatomy, balance and temperament without closing every contour.

Drawing alongside sculpture

Although Sintenis is widely associated with small bronzes, drawing and graphic art were integral to her practice. Works on paper reveal direct observation and a confident selection of detail. Open areas are active parts of the composition. The viewer completes forms that the artist has only indicated, which gives the image lightness and immediacy.

Our overview of original drawings and graphic art helps place these works within the broader field of art on paper. For another major woman artist connected with Berlin, Käthe Kollwitz and her graphic work offers a valuable comparison. Their subjects and visual languages differ, yet both gave drawing an independent expressive force.

The Berlin Bear and public memory

Sintenis’s Berlin Bear became one of her most widely recognised creations. Its later use as the trophy of the Berlin International Film Festival linked her compact sculptural language with the public image of the city. The bear demonstrates how she could reduce a figure without making it static: its outline remains taut and alert.

This fame should not narrow the view of her work. Portraits, self-portraits, mythological figures and studies of sport show a broader investigation of character and physical presence. When choosing a drawing or print, it is worth looking at the quality of line, the relation between figure and empty paper, and the degree of movement held within the pose.

Assessing and framing works on paper

Technique, dimensions, signature information and condition should be considered together. Paper tone, creases, foxing and traces of previous mounting can alter how a delicate drawing reads. Digital photographs may flatten fine lines and cannot reliably communicate the surface of the sheet.

Suitable picture framing for works on paper uses acid-free materials, reversible attachment and adequate distance from the glazing. At Berliner Bilder Galerie, we can discuss these choices in relation to the individual work. Browse the English directory of artists and graphic art or arrange personal art advice at Kaiserdamm.