Renée Sintenis

Renée Sintenis (1888-1972) established herself as one of Germany’s most significant modernists specializing in small-format sculpture and graphic art during the early 20th century. Born Renate Alice Sintenis, she maintained a strong professional identity but was also known during her career as Frau Emil R. Weiss. Based primarily in Berlin, Sintenis deliberately avoided the monumental, propagandistic scale often favored by her contemporaries, choosing instead to focus on subjects that were intimate, dynamic, and closely observed.

Her artistic output centered predominantly on finely detailed bronze animal statuettes, sensitive portraits, and female nudes. She held a particular affinity for capturing animals in motion, achieving a subtle yet dynamic energy despite the inherently small scale of the works. Sintenis's background as a graphic artist played a crucial role in defining the lightness and grace found in her three-dimensional forms. Works like the evocative print Kneeling Fawn (Kniendes Reh) and the energetic Kicking Colt (Springendes Fohlen) demonstrate her mastery of line and anatomy on paper. Today, many of her studies are available as high-quality prints, allowing researchers and collectors global access to these delicate compositions.

While celebrated for her subtle handling of domestic and animal subjects, Sintenis created what would become one of the most recognizable public icons of post-war Germany: the Berlin Bear. Her powerful yet contained representation of the animal was adopted as the design for the top award at the Berlinale International Film Festival, known globally as the Golden Bear. It is a curious note of historical continuity that an artist who devoted herself primarily to private, miniature observations of nature secured her most enduring fame through a high-profile civic emblem.

Sintenis’s enduring contribution lies in the accessible precision of her sculpture and graphic output. Due to their wide dissemination and historical significance, many fine examples of Renée Sintenis prints are now widely available as royalty-free images, cementing her place in the history of 20th-century German draftsmanship and sculpture. Her works, including the Self-Portrait (Selbstporträt), are held in prestigious international institutions, including the Museum of Modern Art.