Clara Rühle

Clara Rühle (born April 14, 1885, in Stuttgart; died 1947 in Hayingen) was a German painter, an early proponent of abstraction, and a pioneer of modern art. She studied under Bernhard Pankok, Johannes Joseph Vincenz Cissarz, and Adolf Hölzel. At the Stuttgart Academy of Fine Arts, she attended the women’s class taught by Robert Poetzelberger and Heinrich Altherr. For twelve years, she served as the chairwoman of the Württemberg Women Painters’ Association. During the election for the chair on May 16, 1934, she was a member of the NSDAP, alongside her deputy Elise Daimler (1875–1956). Both often spent time painting at the association’s summer house in Anhausen. In addition to portraits, she created decorative accessories such as embroidered cushions based on her own designs.

From March 25 to May 28, 1995, the exhibition “Women in Transition? Female Artists in Southwest Germany 1800-1945” was held at the Städtische Galerie in the Prinz-Max-Palais in Karlsruhe, followed by a showing from June 18 to August 6, 1995, at the Städtischen Galerie “Lovis-Kabinett” in Villingen-Schwenningen. Another exhibition titled “The Class of Ladies – Female Artists Conquer Modernity” took place from March 8 to July 5, 2015, at the Städtische Galerie in Böblingen, showcasing 32 works by artists such as Ida Kerkovius, Maria Caspar-Filser, Margarete Oehm-Baumeister, Alice Haarburger, Clara Rühle, Erna Raabe, and Maria Hiller-Foell.