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(my favourite photograph of Margarete Steiff)

STEIFF & LISA ROSENBAUM- COLLABORATION, 100th ANNIVERSARY

Tribute to a Wonderful lady, Margarete Steiff

Dietmar Simon (Head designer of Steiff, Germany) with Lisa Rosenbaum

Christmas 2005, First meeting at Steiff America Headquarters

In Sept, 2005, I was approached to see if i would be interested in a collaboration bear which entailed my handpainted bellies, the aim was for a handpainted Portrait of the founder of our Teddy bear World, Margarete Steiff to be placed into a Steiff's belly.  For more information on how this wonderful story came together, see below as without the first initial idea from Danny Shapiro of the Toy Shoppe, USA, this historical Edition may not have been invented.

RELEASED IN MARCH, 2009, MARGARETE STEIFF, edition 1000.

The bear is called Margarete Steiff, 100th Anniversary of her death 1909 to 2009. 26" height, Edition of 1000 pieces, will be boxed with certificate.

Text below is directly from Steiff (Germany) Promotions:

NEW! A wonderful bear. A great bear. An enchanting homage to a great woman – the founder of the Steiff Company, Margarete Steiff. Because of the 100th anniversary of her date of death, May 9, 2009, this impressive Teddy bear made of gold-coloured curly mohair is going out into the wide world of Steiff fans and collectors to tell the inspiring story of both a human as well as entrepreneurial personality with his strong growling voice. And it is not only the impressive size of 65 centimeters that make this Teddy bear so special but also the warm expression in its big, black wooden eyes. Full of pride and joy, it displays a portrait of Margarete Steiff in the younger years on its belly- an absolute rarity since there are very few photographs from her youth. The exclusive bear in Margarete’s honour was created in collaboration with the Australian artist and Teddy bear designer, Lisa Rosenbaum, who was inspired to create this work of art by her enthusiasm for the story of the Steiff brand as well as the creative works and legacy of Margarete Steiff. The result is a Teddy bear with a charming expertly-incorporated portrait of Margarete from her youth on canvas. The Teddy bear, commemorating the year 1909 that is equally meaningful for Steiff as well as for all Steiff fans, is limited to 1,000 pieces and bears the gold-plated “Button in Ear”.
The Steiff/Oz Matilda Bear comes Boxed with Certificate of authenticity.
Size: 26 inches
EAN: 038655

Price: $825.00usd approx. $1235.00(aud)

Limited Edition Size: 1000

                Original chosen Handpainted Oil Portrait for the Edition     

The 1,000 Canvases were all reproduced in Sydney, Australia and sent to Germany to insert into the Steiff Bears belly. The full Edition is then made by Steiff in Germany.

STEIFF 2009 CATALOGUE BOOK

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THE 3 YEAR MAKING OF AN HISTORICAL EDITION 

2005, Dec -  STEIFF MEETING HEADQUARTERS, AMERICA

Danny & Barrie Shapiro (proprietors of The Toy Shoppe, USA), Jim Piticco (Steiff America President), Deitmar Simon (Steiff head designer, Germany), Lisa Rosenbaum

Lisa in Boston Hotel       Lisa freezing outside historical site   Danny & Barry, Lisa & Phil  

Phillip & I flew over from Australia...whilst Dietmar Simon flew in from Germany and The Shapiro's flew up from Virginia to all meet at Steiff's American Headquarters in Raynham.  We stayed a night in a beautiful Historical Hotel in Boston and two day's later seen snow fall for the first time in our lives in Rayhnam... After business was completed, we then headed to New York for a few days shopping and journeyed down to Virginia where we caught back up with Barry & Danny from The Toy Shoppe enjoying a fantastic night out with The Toy Shoppe's staff and their family for the Christmas holidays.....The next night, we were treated to a beautiful Southern homecooked dinner by the Shapiro's, Barry is an awesome cook.  Then it was back home to the warmer weather of Oz to celebrate Christmas with our family...A truly memorible Christmas 2005 and one that i will cherish forever shared with beautiful people....

LISA ROSENBAUM WITH her 1ST SAMPLE PORTRAIT BEAR taken to the initial first meeting. Portrait by Lisa of Margarete Steiff capturing the famous black/white photograph. Bear is Golden Schulte Mohair, 29inch. Initially, we were going to have the portrait of Margarete in her older day's. Then the idea came up to have a portrait of her in younger day's.

Lisa Rosenbaum in her studio. On the right to her, 1st ever Portrait of Margarete in Oz Matilda Bear (sample), this bear lived at Steiff Germany for just over a year..she is now home in Oz. 

The above photograph of Lisa will appear in the STEIFF Members Catalogue, 2009 along with a short Bio on Lisa.

SAMPLE PORTRAITS

This Project was not an easy task, hence the 3 plus years in the making.

There were many, many portraits painted over the 3 year period by myself, 3 Master Painters and their students, each Portrait took weeks to months to complete.  Over 2,000 plus emails sent to all involved in the Project over this period of time. Initially the idea was to employ accomplished Painters to handpaint 1000 individual portraits from the same photograph of Margarete.

We found later that was to much of a challenge to undertake after a few attempts. Due to the various styles of us painters involved, our own techniques and interpretated vision of the black and white photographs provided by Steiff, were painted all too different and the portaits could not be replicated the same.  After all the portrait samples were completed, The Steiff Family then had the task of selecting the one Portrait they felt most resembled Margarete.  Chosen, was a younger version of Margarete due to the absolute rarity of photographs of Margarete especially when she was young. This makes the Edition extremely rare.  That one portrait was then reproduced by a Wonderful Australian Company using High tech machinery.  There are only 7 of these special machines made in the World, to have sourced one right here in Australia and seen how the machine works in person was fantastic. The quality this machine produces far surpasses any re-produced oil portrait on canvas i have seen. The Vatican in Rome and a well known Museum in France are also owners of these high tech very expensive machines that re-produce Historical Museum Quality Paintings.  Only the best was sourced for this special Project and the finest 'Museum quality' canvases were used for Steiff's 1000 Editions.

 Sample portraits handpainted by Lisa Rosenbaum 

portrait of Margarete          My 1920's Steiff bear i placed in her hands.

Very first Portrait, c.2005 I painted in oils. My initial idea was to give the portrait a feeling as if painted in the earlier Century of the famous photograph of Margarete in her Wheelchair using rich victorian darker colourings.  The bear she holds in this portrait is of my 1920 Steiff Bear that I own in my collection. This Portrait was a sample that i placed into an oz Matilda Bears belly to take to the first meeting for discussion.

I then painted another portrait, with a lighter background and dress, this larger Portrait is now Framed.

Due to the age/fading of the photograph, I used a magnifying glass over the photograph to capture as much detail as possible.

The First Steiff proto-type of Margarete by digitally inserting a painting by The Toy Shoppe to view how the bear may look with burgundy dress/combined with Gold mohair.

Digital editing by The Toy Shoppe to view Margarete's image to see what she may look like in a Blue dress in a bears belly instead of burgundy dress and proportion of image to be painted so it fits perfectly and viewable. 

I personally found capturing Margarete to paint younger than older extremely difficult, even though this photograph was much more clearer to view.    

Another Portrait by Lisa in 2007

Sketch and handpainted portrait by Lisa Rosenbaum

Portrait by Lisa Rosenbaum holding the new Margarete Steiff Edition for 2009.

The Original Photo of Margarete on the left. A digital insertion of the then Steiff proto-type mohair bear was inserted into Margarete's hands. I also had Margarete's eye glasses removed, so i could then replicate and paint into oils.  I very much enjoyed painting Margarete as an older woman and this was my favourite photograph of her. 

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It has been an absolute honour and privledge to work with the team of Steiff Germany, especially, Ralf Cierpka, Dietmar Simon, Monica, Carsten Hartenstein, Annette Konig, Heike Junginger, Gabriele Seeger. Jim Pittico from Steiff America, Danny & Barry Shapiro, The Toy Shoppe, USA and Les Cook from Australia who joined us in the last year to produce the musuem canvases.  

A truly meaningful collaboration of an Historical Edition which took many dedicated people to bring to life from Germany, America and Australia. One of the biggest highlights of my own professional career in bear Artistry.  Thanking absolutely everyone who worked with me, guided me and put up with me!

Lisa Rosenbaum, 19th March, 2009

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