Clara Arnheim

She was born in Berlin. She was of Jewish ancestry. Despite her family's resistance to the idea of a woman being a professional painter, she studied with Franz Skarbina in Berlin and Edmond Aman-Jean in Paris. Among the many organizations of which she was a member, the "Verein der Berliner Künstlerinnen" (an artists' society for women) and the Deutscher Künstlerbund are especially notable. In 1914, on the occasion of the 150th anniversary of the Hochschule für Grafik und Buchkunst Leipzig, she displayed two graphic works at the "Internationalen Ausstellung für Buchgewerbe und Grafik" (BUGRA) and was awarded a gold medal. At the beginning of the 1920s, she helped Henni Lehmann create the Blaue Scheune, an exhibition venue in Hiddensee, where she later took up residence. An organization known as the "Hiddensoer Künstlerinnenbund" was established, which numbered Elisabeth Andrae, Käthe Loewenthal, Katharina Bamberg and Elisabeth Büchsel among its members. Following the Nazi seizure of power, she was served with a Berufsverbot and was unable to exhibit or accept commissions.