Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp

Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp née Hermine Luise Berkenkamp (15 May 1901 – 11 April 1976) was a German painter, colour designer, the avant-garde author of children's books, fairy-tale illustrator and costume designer.

Early life Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp was born in Wesel and was the daughter of Adalbert Berkenkamp (1868-1947) and his wife Laura Johanna Katharina Darmstädter (1872-1956). She had two brothers Alfred (1896-1917) and Walter (1910-1994). Her father and her uncle Heinrich, managed the paper and paper bag factory in Wesel which had been founded by her grandfather Heinrich Berkenkamp in 1865.

Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp graduated from elementary school, then attended a grammar school for four years and went on to attend the Viktoria-Schule in Essen, a girls' grammar school with progressive teaching. Through the art teacher Margarete Schall (1896-1939) her talent for colours and painting was discovered. Hermine Louise Berkenkamp originally wanted to study medicine or German philologie. But Margarete Schall, who herself later enrolled in the Bauhaus for a semester, suggested she study at the art school as it was known for its progressive teaching methods. After graduating from high school in 1920, Lou Berkenkamp enrolled at the Bauhaus in Weimar and studied under Johannes Itten, Lyonel Feininger, Paul Klee and Georg Muche. She became acquainted with Hinnerk Scheper, a classmate in the mural painting workshop there and married him on 24 December 1922 in Weimar. Berkenkamp lived with her parents in Wesel during the first years of her marriage, with their son Jan Gisbert, born in November 1923. During this time the first pictures letters were created. Wilhelm Peter August Helmstedt (3 September 1904 in Wilhelmshaven - 10 March 1976 in Berlin), Arno Mohr, Arthur Fauser, Peter Steinforth, Alfred Kubin, Wolf Röhricht, Siegmund Lympasik, Ulrich Knispel, Otto Eglau, Erich Waske, Georg von Stryk (Gory) (30 August, Dorpat - 14 December, Berlin), Walter Wellenstein (21 May 1898 Dortmund - 17 October 1970 Berlin), Erich Fritz Reuter, Gerhart Schreiter and Hans Szym. She exhibited with her artist colleagues for several years in the "Haus am Waldsee" in Berlin-Zehlendorf. Besides numerous participations in exhibitions in BRD and partly also abroad, Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp was actively involved in the „Professional association of visual artists“ in Berlin until 1970. Between 1956 and 1969 she was jointly responsible for the annual Great Berlin Art Exhibition. After Hinnerk Scheper's death in 1957, Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp took over his tasks in the field of colour design in the Berlin architectural scene. Among other things, she was involved in the colour design of the interiors of the last project realized by Otto Bartning, a Berlin children's home, the Berlin Philharmonic Hall by Hans Scharoun, the Egyptian Museum, various buildings by Walter Gropius in Berlin Britz, Buckow, Rudow and the Airport Building Berlin-Tegel. Until her death on 11 April 1976 Lou Scheper-Berkenkamp worked on the colour concepts for the Berlin State Library of Scharoun.

Following the death of her husband in 1957, Scheper-Berkenkamp worked as an architectural colorist, participating in a number of major projects, including Berliner Philharmonie by Hans Scharoun, Egyptian Museum of Berlin, and Berlin Tegel Airport. Map of the illustrated letters from Lou Scheper to Marie-Luise Betlheim (Croatian Mapa ilustriranih pisama Lou Scheper za Marie-Luise Betlheim) Author: Korana Sutlić Objavljeno (Published): 10.06.2015 at 07:18 Picture Letters for Hinnerk Scheper Bauhaus Women: A Global Perspective from Elizabeth Otto & Patrick Rössler publisher HERBERT PRESS 2019

Published picture books Knirps, ein ganz kleines Ding Ernst Wunderlich, 1st-25th district, Ts. 1948. six-coloured offset printing, 16 pp. 10.5×14.8 cm. Stapled. Reprint: Berlin: Bauhaus Archive 2012. Doll Lenchen. Leipzig: Ernst Wunderlich 1st-25th pp. 1948. six-colour offset print,16 pp. 10.5×14.8 cm. Stapled. Reprint: Berlin: Bauhaus Archive 2012. Tönnchen, Knöpfchen und andere. Leipzig: Ernst Wunderlich 1948. six-colour offset print, 12 pp. 10,5×14,8 cm. Stapled. The stories of Jan and Jon and of their pilot fish. Leipzig: Ernst Wunderlich 1948. eight-colour offset print, 20 p. 29,7×21 cm. Paperback

Unpublished children's book manuscripts Bälkchen erzählt seine Geschichte 1948. Up 15,000. Liz. 154.20 pg. 29.7×21 cm (announced "In preparation"). Die ernsthafte Geschichte von den vertriebenen und wieder versöhnten Gestirnen. For children from 8–14 years and for their parents, as far as they are not yet too grown up. Printing permission of the Cultural Advisory Council for Publishing of April 1948. ed. 20.000. 48 p. 29,7×21 cm (announced "In preparation"). The blotter children and their dog. 16 S. (announced in 1948). Blümchens Abenteuer, eine wunderliche Geschichte. 14 S. (announced in 1948). The Vain Little Girl Story (created c. 1949). Sonderbare Reise eines kleinen Mädchens namens Tüttchen und eines namenlosen aber goldenen Kirchturmhahnes (design c. 1949). Carnival (design c.1949). The story of a child's last dream (design c.1949)