“An engraving is like chamber music, it is small, close, it is not like painting, which you would compare to an opera, with great impact for a wider audience.” 1
The works of Ruth Bess (1914-2015), née Ruth Bessoudo, were exhibited in major museums and galleries throughout North and South America. Her early life, however, was heavily affected by the terror of the Nazi regime. Born in Lübeck to actress Clara Böhm and Turkish-Jewish carpet merchant Haïm Isaac Bessoudo, she began her artistic training at the Hamburg School of Arts and Crafts (today HFBK) in September 1932. After the Nazi seizure of power, she continued her studies in Copenhagen and later studied graphic design in Paris. Even though she was born in Lübeck, she would have different nationalities, namely the German, Spanish and Brasilian ones.
During the Nazi period, Ruth Bess returned to Hamburg. Classified by the Nazis as a “half-Jew,” she was no longer allowed to work as a graphic artist. Only after the war could she resume her profession. In 1951, she followed her future husband Amy Bakaloff Courvoisier to Venezuela, where her artistic career flourished. Through his work for Unifrance (a French organization dedicated to promoting French cinema and audiovisual content worldwide), the couple attended numerous film festivals and established connections with prominent artists and filmmakers, including Luis Buñuel.
A crucial turning point in Ruth Bess’ artistic development came with the move to Rio de Janeiro in 1960. There, encouraged by writer Jorge Amado, she learned the technique of copper engraving. She specialized in aquatint and developed a distinctive style, focusing on the depiction of the South American fauna and flora. Bess’ works are characterized by imaginative and harmonious imagery. Her favorite motives were tapirs and armadillos. In Cachicamo Flor,2 for instance, the central composition features a large plant with detailed green leaves, resembling a chestnut or similarly broad-leafed plant. However, instead of blooming into flowers, the top of the plant develops into three golden armadillos curled into a circular shape, their patterned shells forming the petals of the “flower.” At the bottom of the plant, the artwork presents another transformation: instead of fruits or seed pods, three white rodents (possibly mice or guinea pigs) appear to be growing from the plant, nestled together like a cluster of berries. A decorative border surrounds part of the composition, incorporating repeating motives of the small rodents curled up within circular forms, reinforcing the theme of organic and animal fusion. The artwork is dominated by earthy hues – olive green, ochre, and white – giving the etching a naturalistic yet fantastical quality. The fine detailing in the leaves and the careful texturing of the armadillo shells and fur of the rodents indicate a high level of craftsmanship.
Bess’ works were exhibited internationally, including at the São Paulo Bienniale 1967. Particularly noteworthy in her art is the combination of technical precision with a dreamlike, fantastic imagery. Her works, which appear spontaneous at first glance, are the result of patient and meticulous work, in which she skillfully transferred her inner landscapes onto copper.3 After her husband’s death in 1984, Bess lived first in Caracas and later in Paris, where she remained artistically active well into her old age. Her final years were marked by Alzheimer’s disease. She passed away in Paris in 2015 at the age of 100.
Visitors to HFBK’s exhibition space ICAT may have had the chance to encounter some of the works created by Ruth Bess. She was featured in the exhibition The New Woman - How Female Artists and Designers Shaped the Image of Modernism (curated by Ina Jessen) that also looked into the academy’s history, researching the works and lifes of female artists who studied at HFBK Hamburg in the early 20th century. 4
This article was published in February 2025.
