Kaethe "Kate" Neufeld

1905 - 2004  (99 years)

• Name	Kaethe "Kate" Neufeld
  Born	18 May 1905	Waldheim, Molotschna, Ukraine   [1]
  Gender	Female
  Name	Kate Neufeld
  Eby ID Number	Waterloo-42332
  Died	18 Aug 2004	New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States   [1, 2]
  Buried	Upper Merryall Cemetery, New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States   [1]
  Person ID	I42332	Generations
  Last Modified	7 Nov 2024

  
  

  Father	Heinrich Isaak Neufeld,   b. 13 Jun 1877, Waldheim, Molotschna, Ukraine ,   d. 28 Sep 1920, , Ukraine  (Age 43 years)
  Mother	Eliese Reimer,   b. 11 Jun 1884, Telentschi, Crimea, Ukraine ,   d. 16 Apr 1950, Kitchener, Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada  (Age 65 years)
  Family ID	F15735	Group Sheet  |  Family Chart

  
  

• Notes

  Kate Neufeld was born in southern Russia in 1905. The daughter of an affluent industrialist of German descent, she was raised in Waldheim, a Mennonite community in the Ukraine. After her father was executed by the Red Army in 1920, her mother remarried Jacob H. Janzen, a prominent Mennonite bishop. The family fled to Canada in 1924, settling in Waterloo, Ontario. In 1935, Neufeld followed her brother, the artist Woldemar Heinrich Neufeld (1909 - 2002), to Ohio to study at the Cleveland Institute of Art. While there she mastered the art of enameling through her studies with Kenneth Bates, the so-called Dean of American Enamelists. After studying in Cleveland, Neufeld moved to New York and subsequently to New Milford, Connecticut in 1949. Never married, Neufeld lived with her brother and his family until her death at 99 in 2004. Neufeld is best known for her powerfully expressive enamels depicting a variety of subjects ranging historic, religious and mythological scenes to still life and genre. She also portrayed animals and birds in brilliant colors reminiscent of the folk art she remembered from her childhood. Her work was typically executed in the Limoges technique, a painterly approach to enameling. Neufeld often designed inventive frames and mounts in which to present her work and collaborated with other artists, such as metalsmith Frances Felten, who created handsome metal boxes for Neufeld's enamel plaques. Enamelarts.org 2012 _________________ Kate Neufeld, 99, of New Milford died Aug. 18 at New Milford Hospital. Ms. Neufeld was born May 18,1905 in southern Russia. Her family was of German descent and lived in the village of Waldhelm, a prosperous Mennonite community in the Ukraine. She was the eldest of four children. As a child, her interest in art was instinctive. On carriage rides with her family, she glimpsed through windows of Ukrainian peasants homes and was mystified by the images she grasped. Her interest in Russian icons continued throughout her life as an artist. With the outbreak of the Russian Revolution, Ms. Neufeld's life changed dramatically. Her family was forced to move after her father, a wealthy industrialist, was executed by the Red Army in 1920. Several years later, Ms. Neufeld's mother married J.H. Janzen, a Mennonite bishop who was a leading intellectual, poet and playwright. Jacob Jansen's family of seven children and Ms. Neufeld's became one and together they fled to Canada in the last days of 1924. There, they established a home in Waterloo, Ontario. In 1935, Ms Neufeld followed her brother, Woldemar Neufeld, to Cleveland to study at the Cleveland Art Institute. After studying in Cleveland, Ms Neufeld moved to New York City and, in 1949, to New Milford. In New Milford she set up a studio and continued to work on her enameling, concentrating on mythical, religious and historical figures captured with medieval mood and iconic color, establishing her own unique style. This style was also reproduced when she used fabrics in her medium. Also an avid gardener, Ms Neufeld surrounded herself with beautiful flower gardens full of foxgloves, oriental poppies and delphiniums. During the next 40 years she produced many beautiful art pieces and had numerous exhibitions. Her work has been exhibited in museums in Brooklyn, Wichita, Worcester, San Francisco, New Britain and Hartford. She showed work at the World's Fair in New York in 1964 and one of her prints is in the permanent collection of the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Ms. Neufeld will be remembered by her sister, Elfriede Rice of Georgia; step-sisters Shura Neufeld of Ottawa, Ontario and Marta Schaler of Waterloo. and a step-brother, Hardy Janzen of Waterloo. Kate, sister of Woldemar, was a talented artist in the medium of copper enameling. Her ashes were placed in front of a grave stone decorated with an engraving of a Madonna and Child which was a favorite rendition created by Kate herself. New Milford Spectrum dated Aug 27, 2004

  
  

• Sources

  [S3231] Find A Grave, Cemetery, U., America, N., County, L., Milford, N., & Cemetery, U. (1905). Kate Neufeld (1905-2004) - Find A Grave Memorial. Findagrave.com. Retrieved 4 December 2019, from https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/16873767. [S602] News - ON, Waterloo, Kitchener - The Waterloo Region Record (March 2008- ), Obituary of Sieghard Hardy Janzen - 14 Jan 2010.

  
  

• Event Map

  Died - 18 Aug 2004 - New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States Buried - - Upper Merryall Cemetery, New Milford, Litchfield, Connecticut, United States  = Link to Google Earth