Hilde Lotz-Bauer
Helga Fietz biography
Helga Fietz, also known as Helga Franke and born as Helga Ebert in 1907, was a notable German photographer. She was first introduced to Hilde in 1935 by Bernhard Degenhart, with whom she had an earlier 'experimental' three-year relationship, according to her daughter Cornelie.
From 1934 to 1941, she was married to the art dealer Günther Franke.1
During the 1930s, she and Hilde travelled together around the Abruzzo. They jointly provided material for a photo essay in a German illustrated newspaper, Beyers für Alle - Die Große Familien-Illustrierte (1937-38 Vol. 17), published by Verlag Otto Beyer in Leipzig. In this publication, ‘Helga Franke’ provided six photos and ‘Dr. Degenhardt-Bauer’ two.
She later married the artist Gerhard Fietz. One of his first solo shows was with the Galerie Günther Francke in Munich in 1940.
Helga is best known for her iconic photos of Max Beckmann and for her photographs of Iceland in the early 1950s. Clearly she was a very good portrait photographer as evidenced by her photos of the Lotz family. Hilde admired her night photographs of the River Isar, most likely taken from her home perched above the river at Höllgraben, Icking.
She passed away in 1958.
Unfortunately there is minimal evidence of her work on the internet. ARTnews acknowldeges her influence on the Futurist artist Edith Arnaldi (also known as Rosa Rosa). Hopefully, more of her work will become accessible in the future, allowing for a fuller appreciation of her life and contribution to the field of photography.
Hilde's ability to make very powerful friendships is illustrated by the enduring relationship between the offspring of both Hilde and Helga.
1 Invaluable; but according to Cornelie: a) Helga married Günther Franke in 1935 and gave birth to Cornelie in October 1936 and b) Helga married her second husband, the artist Gerhard Fietz in 1939
In 1974 Günther Franke donated 29 paintings and one Beckmann sculpture to the Free State of Bavaria. "This means that the Munich State Gallery now has the largest Beckmann collection in Europe."