SwissArtGallery · Documented identity

Elena Luksch-Makowsky

Born : 1878Died : 1967Documented citizenships : Germany

The Russian painter and sculptor Elena Luksch-Makowsky was born in Saint Petersburg in 1878 and died in Hamburg in 1967. The daughter of the painter Konstantin Makovsky and niece of Vladimir Makovsky, she grew up in a family connected with painting.

After studying in Saint Petersburg, a scholarship enabled her to work with Anton Ažbe in Munich; she subsequently continued her work in a studio in Dutenhofen, near Dachau. Before marrying Richard Luksch, she obtained the assurance that she would be able to return to Russia and continue working as an independent artist. In 1902, she took part in the 14th exhibition of the Vienna Secession, known as the Beethoven Exhibition. In 1907, she moved to Hamburg with Richard Luksch, who had been appointed professor at the School of Arts and Crafts.

Adolescentia and Ver Sacrum are among the important works mentioned in her biography. In Hamburg, she embarked on the sculpture Frauenschicksal, whose title means “The Fate of Woman”. Strandbad, a watercolour from 1939 executed on a double page of a notebook, is described in the catalogue as probably a view of the area around Juan-les-Pins. The published provenance for this work first mentions the artist’s estate, followed by a private collection in Switzerland. In 1926, she made a one-sided bronze plaque for the city of Hamburg entitled Für treue Arbeit im Dienste des Volkes (“For faithful work in the service of the people”).

After her divorce in 1921, she raised her three sons alone. In the postwar period, she devoted most of her artistic activity to religious iconography and decoration for the Russian Orthodox congregation in Hamburg. In 2019, works by the artist were presented at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere in the exhibition Stadt der Frauen: Künstlerinnen in Wien von 1900 bis 1938.

This profile brings together identity references for Elena Luksch-Makowsky and paintings, drawings and works on paper documented in auction catalogues.

33 references are documented at Kornfeld. Each record links to its source; the amounts are not a general valuation of the artist’s work.

Works recorded at auction

Kornfeld · Lot 1437

Rest

Drawing in Indian ink on drawing paper

Original catalogue wording

Rast
Drawing in Indian ink on drawing paper

Catalogue period : 2025-09-09

Catalogue reference — sale not confirmed

Estimate : CHF 500

Elena Luksch-Makowsky

Works recorded at auction

Rest

Boatmen pulling a rope

Beach scene at Juan-les-Pins

Self-portrait (pregnant)

Morning Shadows — Four Young Men Carrying a Boat

Two girls in white dresses on a grassy slope

Lakeshore. – Peasant interior with a small boy

Self-portrait while pregnant

Oriental man and dancers

Two sketches for the sculpture “Woman’s fate”

Group of Houses

Self-portrait with children in front of a church

Duma

Portrait of Andreas Luksch

Portrait of a Child

Portrait of Demeter Luksch

Rest

Hammer Park

Boatmen pulling a rope

Beach scene at Juan-les-Pins

Portrait of a man — Portrait of a woman

Preparatory drawing for a woodcut for “Ver Sacrum”

Dancing Couple — Portrait of a Young Man

Portrait of Dimitri (Dima) Luksch with a Russian toy

Russian pilgrims

City Park

Morning Shadows — Four Young Men Carrying a Boat

Two fugitives (Chameleon)

Bathing Beach

Peasants in the field — Study for Peasants in the field

Two men sunbathing in Juan-les-Pins

Female gymnasts in the park

Portrait of a Child

Sources and references

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