One biography of the painter Arthur Cramer James Wasse

Biography of the painter Arthur Cramer James Wasse (1854-1930), who lived in Rothenburg from 1892 until his death.

Arthur Wasse was probably the best known member of the Wasse family.  He was born on the 7th December 1854, at 26 Upper Brook St. Manchester. His second name appears to come from neighbours who were possibly his  godparents. Little is known of his youth. When the family lived in Rivington, Lancashire he attended school, but it seems that when they moved back to  Manchester, and he was 16 years old, he was not at school, but neither was he working. According to a biography by Martha Faber, written a few years after his death, his  father wished him to start as an apprentice cloth printer, although his own inclination was to follow in his father's footsteps as an artist. As a result he left home in 1875 and, without any support, studied 10 months under a Mr.Muckley at "the Academy". There he won a medal and several "Kensington  Prizes". Another short biography, apparently written in 1926, but of unknown  origin, states that the time under Mr. Muckley was spent at The  Manchester  School of Art where it is known that William Jabez Muckley was a teacher. The “Kensington Prizes” are unlikely to have entailed attendance at the South Kensington Art School itself and were almost certainly earned at the Manchester Art School.    

At the end of 1875 he moved to Munich and became a student at the academy there. Arthur's grand‑daughter Mrs. Josephine Williams had in her  possession, and left to Ian Wasse, a sketch book dated “Munich August‑September 1875” in which there are a series of studies of the bones and muscles of the body as well as copies of figures from the work of many well known artists such as Rembrandt, Rubens,  Van Dycke, etc.. Most likely this represents some of his work as a student there. The Martha Faber biography states that his academy director in Munich was Piloty. It is probable that a portrait of Arthur by Benes Knupfer, now in the Manchester City Art Gallery, is from this period because Knupfer also studied in Munich under Piloty. His subsequent movements as recorded in the biography are that he had a  raprochement with his father, and lived for a short time in England, but he returned to Munich as an independent artist at the beginning of the '80s. After the death of two of his friends in a fire in Munich he returned to London, where he ran a successful painting school. He married and travelled to Germany to settle in Rothenburg o. d. Tauber, but his wife died giving birth to their second child. He again returned to England where he remained until the turn of the century at which time he went back to Rothenburg,  where he remained for the rest of his life. Photo: the Imperial City Museum front in Nov.2008.

After his studies Arthur apparently returned to England around 1877 and from then until 1879 was a regular exhibitor in Manchester. In 1879 he exhibited "Flowers" at the Royal Academy. At this time he was living at 97, Bridge St., Manchester. On today’s numbering of Bridge St., the address would have been close to the junction with Deansgate where a large modern building now stands.  When he married Mary Crowther McLeod on the 15th September 1880, at the Independent Chapel, Droylsden, Manchester, he gave his residence as South View, Hayfield. This was the home of his married sister Marianne and his younger sister Edith. Mary McLeod was born on the 28th June 1857, the daughter of John McLeod, an iron moulder and Susan McLeod, formerly White, at Victoria Terrace, Openshaw. Both the names McLeod and Whyte were subsequently passed on to Arthur's descendants. At the time of the marriage she was living at Rose Bank House, Fairfield in Droylsden. It seems likely that Arthur was still in England for a part of 1881, but on the 21st of June 1881 his son Frank (Franz) was born in Munich. The place of birth was Landwehrstrasse 56, described as his (Arthur's) house. It is unfortunately not still standing. This probably represents his time as a professional artist in Munich. He is said to have exhibited in Manchester in 1882, but no confirmation of this has been found. In the same year he was elected a member of the Manchester Academy of Fine Arts. Photo: Arthur Wasse (1854-1939) Collection © Museum.

Some indication of Arthur’s interests at this time can be obtained from a draft letter written by William Montgomery a stained glass artist and one of his circle of English friends in Munich, which recalls a summer holiday spent with Arthur high in the Alps on the southern border of Germany. Arthur was spending about a month in a rough hut high in the mountains painting, while his wife Mary was presumably back home in Munich. As his parents in law were about to visit for a holiday and Arthur was meeting them in Antwerp, it is likely that she was either soon to give birth to Frank or had quite recently done so.  The letter describes what was clearly a lads’ rough camping trip. Arthur and his friend Mouncey had two revolvers, a gun and two daggers with them. They had hewn wood and cooking was done over an open fire, either outside the hut or, in bad weather, inside it. Washing was carried out in the nearby stream and whiskey and beer were consumed. It appears that Arthur was very fit and had a passion for climbing mountains. The letter also shows that, contrary to the impression given in the Martha Faber biography, which stresses his Germaness, he was also part of a circle of English expatriates living in Munich.

Interestingly the Knupfer portrait of Arthur was reproduced in postcard format and a copy was found in Montgomery’s papers. This has “B Koeler Munich c1884 Portrait of Wasse” on the back and is stamped “F. Weiner” on the front. It may be significant that Montgomery was a National Scholar at the South Kensington Art School 1872-4 after completing his apprenticeship in stained glass painting in Newcastle upon Tyne and attending art school there. In view of the fact that Arthur is said, in the Faber biography, to have won several “Kensington Prizes”, there must be the possibility that he also attended this school. Dorothy J Smith, in her biography, explicitly says that he attended the Royal Academy, but she seems to have substituted this for time spent at the Manchester School of Art. However it may be that “Kensington Prizes” were also awarded in the provincial art schools subordinate to South Kensington and that Arthur received his prizes in Manchester. Since the regular sequence of English exhibitions does not start again until 1885, it can be assumed that he remained in Germany until that date, first in Munich and later, probably from about 1884, in Rothenburg. Mary died of child bed fever when Harry was born. According to family tradition her parents travelled to Rothenburg and took the children back  with them to England. No documentary evidence throwing light on the death of Mary has been found, with the exception that Harry’s age, as given in the 1891 census, suggests that Mary must have died in 1883 or early 1884. Photo: the signpost guide at the Wasse way.

In 1885 Arthur was back in Manchester, at Old Exchange Arcade, from where he exhibited "A Portrait Study" at the Royal Academy. Old Exchange is on King St. almost opposite number 30 where Arthur’s father was formerly based. The present building façade is dated 1897 but the layout is probably similar to its predecessor as it has a small arcade running through to St Anne’s church and to offices above. His father died on the 10th November of 1885 and this was possibly instrumental in causing Arthur to move to London. From Kensington Crescent Studios, Warwick Road he exhibited regularly at the Royal Academy. "A Courtyard", "Bent Not Broken" and "Prosit" in 1886 "Lancashire Pit Lasses at Work" in 1887 and "A Daily Duty"  and "Passion Flowers" in 1890. In 1886/7 he exhibited "Study of a Head" (18 Gns) at the Royal Society of British Artists. In this case his address was 11, Holland Park Rd.W., which was probably his private address at this time, Kensington Cresent Studios being the painting school mentioned in the biography. He also had paintings in Manchester exhibitions. Holland Park Rd. and the surrounding area was home to many artists at this time. Frederick, Lord Leighton built Leighton House at 12 Holland Park Rd. between 1864 and 1879 and lived there until his death in 1896. Number 11 was almost opposite Leighton House and was one of a row of cottages. The ordnance survey map of the time shows the garden at the rear of number 12 totally occupied by some sort of structure, which could have been a studio or gallery. This was present in 1894-6 and 1914 but had been removed by 1949. Photo: the old gate ( Walltor ) of 1587, left behind the wall the house of the painter Wasse.

From 1891 to 1895 he continued to exhibit regularly at the Royal  Academy, and also in Manchester, but this time from 17, Vicarage Gate, Kensington, which is an imposing five story mansion that, at the time, lay next to St Paul’s church. The 1891 census transcription lists Arthur as head of family with his two sons Frank, 9, and Harry W., 7, and his sister Marianne Masters, 41 and erroneously described as sister in law, along with a maid. The record is interesting as it shows the only details so far substantiated of Harry and also because it lists Arthur’s profession as Artist (painter) Sculpt. No other record of him as a sculptor has so far been discovered. The paintings exhibited from Vicarage Gate were: in 1891 "A Siren", in 1892 "A Supplicant" and "Devotion", in 1893 "Suspense" and in 1895 "Poppies and  Paeonies". Directories of the time also give a second address for Arthur at 28 Campden Hill Gardens. This lies just north of Vicarage Gate. This may well have been a studio. Arthur's second marriage, to Rebecca Fanny Pittar , took place in St Nicholas's Church, Harwich, Essex, which was given as his place of residence, on the 8th September 1900. She is said to have been born in Brighton in 1869 and to have been the daughter of a lord. Photo: ‘City in smoke’ Arthur Wasse around 1919, oil on canvas. Painted of the terrace of his house to Klingenbastei. Collection © museum.

From her birth certificate, she was born on the 9th November 1858 and was the daughter of Isaac John Pittar, an artist, and his wife Emily Pittar, formerly Taylor. The place of birth was 9, Farm Rd, Hove, which was her mother's residence. She was living in Hove at the time of her marriage. Isaac John Pittar exhibited between 1845 and 1856. He is recorded as having lived in London and Brighton and appears to have been one of three children born to Isaac Pittar and his wife, formerly Louisa Frances Krumpholtz, in London. There is no evidence that Rebecca Fanny's father was a lord; however there was a Knight of the Bath, Thomas John Pittar, whose father, also Thomas John, was from Hove. In spite of a precise date of birth given in Burke's Peerage the knight's origins have not been positively identified in the GRO. Possibly there was a family connection to Rebecca Fanny, but no evidence has yet been found to show this. Sir Thomas John's third son Thomas Frederick Barry Pittar was a painter, three of whose works are in the Victoria and Albert museum. On the 3rd January 1893 Arthur’s mother died at Vicarage Gate, aged 70. Arthur was present with her when she died.

The biography states that he made his final move to Rothenburg  around 1895. However a directory of 1897 has him still listed at 17 Vicarage Gate. The only records of him exhibiting after 1895 are one odd time in  Manchester in 1897, in 1904 in Bavaria and 1910 in Paris. A photograph of Atrhur with friends in a courtyard in Rothenburg  probably dates to the period just after this move. In Rothenburg he lived at Klingenbastei 1a, a house built on the remains of the old city walls with beautiful views over the town and valley. The house does not appear to be old and may have been built for Arthur. It is entered via a door in the wall near the Klingen Outer Gate. He was apparently very fond of his garden and made all the furniture in the house himself. Arthur Wasse's friend and fellow painter was Wilhelm Schacht. Schacht moved to Rothenburg in 1912 after studying in Munich. Together they set up the Kunstbond in Rothenburg, along with two or three other artists. Schacht had two sons. Rudolph was an animal painter. The other son was a botanist specialising in rock gardens. He had several plants named after him. Willems daughter Barbara did not marry and in 1981 was living in his old house, Klingengasse 4a. She was 83 and had many of her father's and brother's paintings covering the walls. She also had Arthur Wasse's English-German dictionary and his binoculars. She remembers that the Wasses never made visits or received visitors but were otherwise very friendly and that Fanny appears to have remained very English, reading the Daily Mirror. Photo: Collection © museum. Arthur Wasse, view into an sun-illuminated threshing floor, oil on canvas around 1920, to solve with difficulty with it the changing lighting conditions.

A photograph of Arthur in old age hangs in the Imperial City Museum , Rothenburg. He died on the 14th October 1930 in Rothenburg. Somerset House has summaries of his will and legal division of his property. "Wasse Arthur Cramer James of 926 Rothenburg O/T, Mittelfranken, Bavaria, died 14th October 1930. Probate London 29th August to Rebecca Fanny Wasse widow. Effects:‑1634p 14s 5d in England. Witnesses Elias Bancroft, Louise Mary Bancroft, 7 Buckingham Crescent, Victoria Park Manchester." Elias Bancroft RCA. 1850-1924 was an artist, born in Manchester, who regularly spent several months each year between 1893 and the start of the first world war as a guest in Rothenburg. His watercolour “Der Siebersturm von Norden” of 1905 is in the Reichsstadtmuseum in Rothenburg. It has a label ”For the Royal Cambrian Academy, Buckingham Crescent, Victoria Park, Manchester”.In Arthur’s will, drawn up in September 1904, he left everything to his second wife Rebecca Fanny Pittar, but after his death in 1930 the local German court in Rothenburg corrected the will by adding Arthur's second and third Christian names and listed a division of German property in which only one  quarter was left to his widow and the remainder was shared between his second son Harry and Frank's three children. His house in Rothenburg was sold to Fau Meyer, a teacher and Fanny gave 58 of his pictures, which had been in the house, to the town in exchange for a place in an almshouse. A note from Fanny to Barbara Schacht  refers to the sale of the house. The paintings were placed in the Imperial City Museum. Photo: © leo wirth, the museum seen by the Wasse way in the south.

Arthur’s house on the Klingenbastei is the starting point for the Arthur Wasse Weg, a path which runs southwards just outside the city wall and has good views of the valley below. This was probably named after his death. Fanny died in 1954. Her English will showed effects of £11455.6s.1d in England, the bulk of which was left to Harry Whyte Wasse, whom she described as her stepson.  

Copyright for this article: © by Mike Wasse

Note: A CD-ROM with all issued works is to be acquired for € 6.00 in the museum.

A special thanks to Mike Wasse, Dr. Helmut Möhring Imperial City Museum and Peter Schaumann for support.

Leo Wirth in the Blogreiter Weblog

Link to Arthur Wasse Biography in German