Hermann Nonnenmacher

Hermann Nonnenmacher (1892–1988) was a sculptor, painter and teacher, born in Coburg, Germany, who later lived in London.

Biography

Nonnenmacher served in the German Army during World War I and sustained some hearing loss. He studied at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts, and was a member of the Association of German Artists.

In 1919 he married the sculptor Erna Rosenberg (1889-1980). They lived and worked in Berlin at Potsdamer Str. 29, the former studio of Lyonel Feininger.

Before the rise of Nazism, Nonnenmacher was a well-known sculptor whose works adorned many public buildings in Germany. Hermann and Erna's art was classified as degenerate by the Nazis, and much of his public sculpture was destroyed. Erna was persecuted as a Jew and they emigrated to London in 1938.

During the second world war Hermann and Erna were interned on the Isle of Man, where Hermann made and exhibited artwork. After the war they set up a studio in a house off Archway Road, London.

Nonnenmacher died in London in August 1988.

Exhibitions

Public collections

• Nonnenmacher's 1928 sculpture "Abschied" (Farewell) is on display in the Berlinische Galerie Berlin.

Solo and two-person exhibitions

• Geffrye Museum
• Heal's Mansard Gallery
• Barclay Gallery, London (1953) Terra Cotta and Pottery Figurines by Audrey Blackman. Wood carvings by H. Nonnenmacher
• King's College, London (1973) Retrospective exhibition Hermann Nonnenmacher sculptures and drawings

Group exhibitions

• Royal Glasgow Institute of the Fine Arts Annual Exhibition, six times during 1940-1954
• Lambeth Palace great hall, Modern Church Art (1951). Nonnenmacher exhibited a statue of Job.
• Royal Academy of Arts, London
• Leicester Galleries, London
• Royal British Society of Sculptors
• Camden Arts Centre Art in Exile in Great Britain 1933-45 (1968)

Commissions

Nonnenmacher was awarded several commissions for public sculpture in Germany before the rise of Nazism. Most or all of this work was destroyed.

Public commissions in England included sculpture for:

• Church of St. John, Waterloo, London
• Boulton and Paul Ltd. Norwich
• Merton College, Oxford
• Chapel of Kings College London, two carved wooden sculptures

Teaching

The prominent Berlin-born Australian sculptor, Inge King studied under Nonnenmacher during 1936-1937 in preparation for her entry to the Berlin Academy of Arts.

From 1949 to 1970 Nonnenmacher taught modelling and pottery at Morley College. Nonnenmacher also taught private pupils in his home studio.

Awards

In 1982 Hermann Nonnenmacher was awarded the German Federal Cross of Merit by the West German government.