# Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen artist context and auction value notes

Canonical page: https://appraisily.com/artist/dorothea-maetzel-johannsen/
Profile generated: 2026-05-30T10:14:00.000Z
Quality: high confidence, strong sources

## Artist identity

- Birth date: 1886-02-06
- Death date: 1930-02-08
- Nationality: German
- Movements: German avant-garde
- Common media: oil painting

## About Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen

Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen (1886–1930) was a German painter associated with the early twentieth-century avant-garde. Born in Lensahn, Schleswig-Holstein, on 6 February 1886, she was active in Hamburg and became part of the city's modern art scene. She was married to the architect and designer Emil Maetzel, and together they were connected to the broader European modernist current. Her work centered on still-life compositions and portraiture. She is recognized in major art-historical reference works including the Allgemeines Künstlerlexikon and the Bénézit dictionary of artists. Her career was cut short by her death in Hamburg on 8 February 1930, at the age of forty-four. Despite her relatively brief output, her paintings appear periodically in the European auction market, and she is documented by the Getty Union List of Artist Names, the Netherlands Institute for Art History (RKD), and VIAF.

## Common works and media

Maetzel-Johannsen primarily worked in oil on canvas and board. Her most frequently encountered subjects include still-life compositions—often floral or tabletop arrangements—and portraiture. Works are generally modest in scale, consistent with her Hamburg studio practice during the 1910s and 1920s. Collectors may also encounter works on paper such as drawings or watercolors connected to her preparatory process.

## Market and appraisal context

Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen's works appear at European auctions from time to time, with still-life and portrait paintings being the most commonly encountered types. Collectors assessing her work should consider medium, subject matter, dimensions, date of execution, provenance, and condition. Because she died at forty-four, her overall body of work is limited, which can affect availability. Attribution should be confirmed through expert review, as her name may appear in variant forms including "Dora Maetzel-Johannsen." Comparable auction results from German and Northern European houses provide the most relevant market benchmarks.

## Appraisily data basis

Appraisily artist pages combine identity research from authority files and art-historical databases with auction records, sale dates, realized prices, and comparable lots when those records are available. For Dorothea Maetzel-Johannsen, biographical data is sourced from the RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History, Getty ULAN, VIAF, and Wikidata. Market commentary is general where specific auction-house documentation was not available in the source pack.

## Sources

- RKD Netherlands Institute for Art History: https://rkd.nl/en/explore/artists/308228
- Getty Vocabulary Program: https://vocab.getty.edu/page/ulan/500156415
- VIAF (OCLC): https://viaf.org/viaf/45207925/
- Wikidata: https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q774020
- Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dorothea_Maetzel-Johannsen
- Library of Congress: https://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2002091412