Elise Daimler

Elise Daimler (* June 13, 1875 – † December 11, 1956, in Stuttgart) was a German painter and graphic artist. She created her first artistic works in the home of landscape painter Albert Kappis, with whose daughter, Emma Bechtle-Kappis, she maintained a lifelong friendship. From 1901 to 1906, Daimler studied at the Royal Württemberg Art School – now the State Academy of Fine Arts Stuttgart – in the women’s class taught by Gustav Igler. She was enrolled at the Women’s Academy in Munich, part of the Munich Association of Women Artists, under Angelo Jank from 1906 to 1908 and completed a study trip to Paris in 1914.

Daimler undertook many study trips, including to the Netherlands, where she worked with the Impressionist Christian Landenberger. She spent many times with painter Clara Rühle at the summer house of the Württemberg Women Artists’ Association in Anhausen, which she joined in 1907. Her works include landscapes, still lifes, and portraits of people.

From 1934 to 1940, she lived in the artist’s apartment of the so-called Women Artists’ House of the Württemberg Women Artists’ Association on Eugenstraße 17. The association was aligned with the regime in 1933, and Daimler was elected as the second chairwoman in the re-elections on May 16, 1934, while being a member of the NSDAP, as was Clara Rühle, who was elected chairwoman. In 1945, all board members were forced to resign their positions under pressure from the American military government. Along with six other artists, Elise Daimler formed a provisional working committee to discuss the future of the association. The re-establishment as the Bund Bildender Künstlerinnen Württembergs e. V. was confirmed in November 1945.

In the summer of 1955, an exhibition featuring works by Elise Daimler, Emma Bechtle-Kappis, and Maria Krauskopf brought the association back into the public eye. Daimler remained a member until her death. Additionally, she was active for ten years in the Munich Association of Women Artists (KVM), twelve years in the Women’s Art Association, local group Stuttgart (FKV), and in the Association of Visual Artists and Artists of Baden-Württemberg (VBKW).