Member since Sunday 17th Jan, 2016
I am the grandson of Anne Ratkowski and Nico Braun and am selling a collection of their paintings.
Originating in Berlin, Germany their lives were changed due to war time isues and both faced persecution from the Nazi regime.
Both were mentored by Arthur Segal and members of the Novembergruppe a radical creative group of German Expressionist Artists devoted to anti-war ideals.
This group also included painters such as Wassily Kandinsky and Paul Klee. After the Nazi government introduced anti-Jewish legislation in 1933 they had to destroy the majority of their books and artworks. Anne leaves Germany for Belgium in 1938 where she and Nicolas divorce. Anne re-married in 1940 and emigrated from Belgium to New York in 1948.
The majority of Anne Ratkowski’s collection of paintings are still life with several landscapes and portraits. The attention to detail is so remarkable and in particular the still life’s subject matters every feature is so life like that one could literally pick up every cup and saucer, eat each apple or pear, hold and smell each flower.
The artworks we have by Nico Braun are also quite remarkable and we need to find homes for these paintings where they will be viewed, cherished and appreciated.
