Narrator from Weaving Women's Words: Baltimore Stories

Amalie Rothschild

A well-known painter and sculptor, Amalie Rothschild discovered her penchant for drawing while still a young child. Born in 1916 to a German-Jewish family in Baltimore, Amalie graduated high school during the Depression and went on to study fashion illustration at art school because it seemed practical. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, she worked as a fashion illustrator for several firms in Baltimore. Amalie married Randolph Rothschild in 1936 and began to explore fine art, which became her lifelong passion. She began as a painter, and although she became comfortable in a variety of different media, Amalie gradually shifted her focus to sculpting. While working on her own pieces, she taught fine arts at Goucher College and other institutions in Baltimore and promoted the arts throughout the community. Her home studio allowed her to pursue her career and to care for her two daughters, Amalie and Adrien, when they were small. An active, much recognized, and beloved member of the Baltimore arts community, Amalie Rothschild died on November 4, 2001.


	I learned a lot about self-expressiveness during twelve years of volunteer work in art therapy at Springfield State Hospital. I had also read a book about Matisse, who started every day in his studio by drawing without a plan. So I started the day by just drawing—"automatic drawing." And that, plus the experience at Springfield, brought what was inside of me out to the fore. My whole method of being an artist changed as a result of those two experiences.
Amalie Rothschild A well-known painter and sculptor, Amalie Rothschild discovered her penchant for drawing while still a young child. Born in 1916 to a German-Jewish family in Baltimore, Amalie graduated high school during the Depression and went on to study fashion illustration at art school because it seemed practical. After graduating from the Maryland Institute College of Art, she worked as a fashion illustrator for several firms in Baltimore. Amalie married Randolph Rothschild in 1936 and began to explore fine art, which became her lifelong passion. She began as a painter, and although she became comfortable in a variety of different media, Amalie gradually shifted her focus to sculpting. While working on her own pieces, she taught fine arts at Goucher College and other institutions in Baltimore and promoted the arts throughout the community. Her home studio allowed her to pursue her career and to care for her two daughters, Amalie and Adrien, when they were small. An active, much recognized, and beloved member of the Baltimore arts community, Amalie Rothschild died on November 4, 2001.
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© 2004 Jewish Women's Archive. Photograph by Joan Roth