BIOGRAPHY: RIA PICCO-RÜCKERT
Left: Ria Picco-Rückert, postcard*, ‘Oberschlesien‘. GDK 1943, room 12. Bought by Albert Speer for 5.000 RM.
Right: Ria Picco-Rückert, postcard, ‘Hüttenwerk’ (‘Blast-furnace’). GDK 1942, room 12. Sold for 2.000 RM. Painting is in the possession of the ‘Reichsschatzamt Bayreuth’.
Left: Ria Picco-Rückert, art print, ‘Reichswerke Hermann Göring Hochofen VII’ (‘Hermann Göring Blast-furnace VII’). GDK 1941, room 12. Sold for 2.000 RM.
Right: Ria Picco-Rückert, art print*, ‘Reichswerke Hermann Göring Stahlwerk im Bau’ (‘Hermann Göring Steelfactory, under construction’). GDK 1941, room 28. Bought by Joseph Goebbels. Size 100 x 80cm. In the possession of ‘Die Kunstvilla, -Städtische Museum Nürnberg’. Size 100 x 80 cm. Also displayed at the exhibition ‘Ausstellung von Werken lebender fränkischer Künstler’, Nürnberg, 1940; depicted in ‘Das Bild’, May 1940.
Ria Picco-Rückert, art print, ‘Festungen der Arbeit’ (‘Strongholds of Labour’). GDK 1944, room 12. Bought by Joseph Goebbels for 7.000 RM. Size: 200 x 160 cm. In the possession of the Deutsches Historisches Museum, Berlin.
‘Festungen der Arbeit’ by Picco-Rückert, displayed at the exhibition ‘Art in the Third Reich, Seduction and Distraction’, Museum Arnhem, The Netherlands, November 2023 – March 2024. Photo: Eva Broekema. 
‘Festungen der Arbeit’ by Picco-Rückert, depicted in the exhibition catalog ‘Art in the Third Reich’ by Jelle Bouwhuis and Almar Seinen 2023.
Left: Ria Picco-Rückert, art print, ‘Im Schacht des Panzers Johanna’. Depicted is the first Armoured Face Conveyer (coal mining equipment), invented in 1942 and for the first time in use in the Johanna coal mine in Poland. GDK 1943, room 12. Bought by Joseph Goebbels for 5.000 RM. A litho is in the possession of the ‘Bergbaumuseum Bochum’.
Right: ‘Im Schlacht des panzer Johanna’ at the GDK 1943.
Left: Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Hochofen’ (‘Blast Furnace’). Displayed at the GDK 1942, room 12. Depicted in ‘Die Kunst im Dritten Reich’, 1942.
Right: Ria Picco-Rückert, postcard, ‘Rohrbach-Viadukt bei Stuttgart‘.
Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Bau der Kongresshalle Nürnberg‘ (‘Construction of the Congress Hall in Nuremberg‘), 1941. Size 34 x 26 cm. In the possession of the ‘Dokumentationszentrum Reichsparteitagsgelände/ Museen der Stadt Nürnberg‘.
Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Vereinigte Kraft’ (‘United Power’). GDK 1944 room 15. Size 230 x 190 cm. Bought for 8.000 Reichsmark by Joseph Goebbels. In the possesion of the Beyerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. Displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst im 3. Reich, Dokumente der Unterwerfung’. The exhibition, instigated by the Frankfurter Kunstverein, was held from 1974 to 1975 in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Ludwigshafen and Wuppertal; ‘Vereinigte Kraft‘ was depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
Left: Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Hochofen’ (‘Blast-furnace’). Size 170 x 150 cm. In the possession of the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee.
Right: Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Chemisches Werk‘ (‘Chemical Plant’). Displayed at the Exhibition ‘Künstlerisches Frauenschaffen‘ in the ‘Gästehaus der Reichsfrauenführung‘, Berlin, 1941.
Ria Picco-Rückert, ‘Im Thomasstahlwerk. Rombacher Hütte, Lotharingen’, 1943. Depicted is the Rombacher Hütte in Rombas, Lotharingen (between Metz and Thionville). The Hütte was taken over by the Flick-concern in WWII. Later it became part of the French USINOR group. Size 150 x 120 cm. Offered by a German auction house in 2020. The painting is depicted in black and white in ‘Kohle und Stahl, Leben und Werk der Industriemalerin Ria Picco-Rückert’ by Klaus Ollinger, 2007.
Ria Picco-Rückert
Ria Picco-Rückert (1900 – 1966) daughter of the architect Peter Rückert, studied at the ‘Kunstgewerbeschule Nürnberg’, under, amongst others, professor Hermann Gradl. Later, until 1926, she went to the art academies of Stuttgart, Vienna and Weimar. After study trips to Italy, Hungary, the city of Kiel and the Ruhrgebiet, she settled as an independent artist in Nürnberg. In the beginning she also created portraits and wall-paintings, but soon she specialized in depicting heavy industry: industry workers, ports and industrial facilities in the Ruhrgebiet and Elsass-Lotharingen. In 1929 Picco-Rückert for the first time showed paintings with specific industrial themes at the ‘Ausstellung Nürnberger Künstler’ in Budapest. From 1929 to 2006 there were more than 60 exhibitions (mainly in Germany) of her industrial works. Around 1930 she received her first commissioned works, in the Ruhrgebiet-area, initially from the industrial MAN-Group. Many other companies, such as Siemens, and other government institutions, would follow.
During the Third Reich, in addition to industrial and chemical plants, she also painted highway bridges. Picco-Rückert was represented at the Great German Art Exhibitions with 20 works. Joseph Goebbels bought 4, Albert Speer 2 and several works were bought by industrial companies.
The industry-painter Ria Picco-Rückert died in 1966 in Nürnberg.
The Deutsche Historische museum owns ‘Festungen der Arbeit’, GDK 1944, and ‘Baustelle der Kongresshalle am Dutzendteich in Nürnberg’, 1938. Other museums that hold works by Picco-Rückert are: the ‘Städtische Museum Nürnberg’, the ‘Bergbaumuseum Bochum’, Saarländsiches Grubenmuseum Bexbach’, Hoesch-Museum Dortmund’, ‘Rheinisches Industriemuseum Oberhausen’, Stadtmuseum Neustadt’ and the Grohmann Museum in Milwaukee. ‘Vereinigte Kraft’ (‘United Power’, GDK 1944 room 15) is in the possesion of the Beyerische Staatsgemäldesammlungen. It was displayed at the exhibition ‘Kunst im 3. Reich, Dokumente der Unterwerfung’. The exhibition, instigated by the Frankfurter Kunstverein, was held from 1974 to 1975 in Frankfurt, Hamburg, Stuttgart, Ludwigshafen and Wuppertal; ‘Vereinigte Kraft‘ was depicted in the official exhibition catalogue.
‘Festungen der Arbeit’ by Picco-Rückert, was displayed at the exhibition ‘Art in the Third Reich, Seduction and Distraction’, Museum Arnhem, The Netherlands, November 2023 – March 2024.
* As also stated in our General Terms and Conditions, German Art Gallery offers the depicted postcards (and original art prints) for sale. Almost all of the postcards are ‘Haus der Deutschen Kunst’ editions. Prices are available upon request.