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Lot Essay
During the first decade of their marriage, Eugene Von Bruenchenhein (1910-1983) photographed his young wife, Marie, in a series of provocative poses in their Wisconsin home. In these images, Marie is often adorned with objects purchased at the local five and dime. Fashioned from bolts of fabric, Christmas tree ornaments, fake pearls, aluminum foil, and children’s toys, these props transported Marie into a different world.
Von Bruenchenhein met Eveline “Marie” Kalke at the Wisconsin state fair in 1939. The couple married in 1943 in Milwaukee and moved into their first and only home together that same year. Von Bruenchenhein always considered himself an artist, and he saw his long-term job at a bakery only as a source of income and not as his true vocation. The hand-etched metal plaque Eugene hung in the kitchen of the Von Bruenchenhein home best describes his passions:
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein
Free Lance Artist
Poet and Sculptor
inovator [sic]
Arrow maker and Plant man
Bone artifacts constructor
Photographer and Architect
Philosopher
Von Bruenchenhein met Eveline “Marie” Kalke at the Wisconsin state fair in 1939. The couple married in 1943 in Milwaukee and moved into their first and only home together that same year. Von Bruenchenhein always considered himself an artist, and he saw his long-term job at a bakery only as a source of income and not as his true vocation. The hand-etched metal plaque Eugene hung in the kitchen of the Von Bruenchenhein home best describes his passions:
Eugene Von Bruenchenhein
Free Lance Artist
Poet and Sculptor
inovator [sic]
Arrow maker and Plant man
Bone artifacts constructor
Photographer and Architect
Philosopher