Sculptor and painter Pamina Liebert was born into a well-to-do Jewish family in Berlin, Germany on 27 April 1904. After an earlier apprenticeship in millinery, she studied sculpture under German sculptor Fritz Klimsch at the United States Schools of Fine and Applied Arts in Berlin from 1928-33, winning the Prix de Rome, which Nazi opposition prevented her from collecting. She married photographer Rolf Mahrenholz (1902–91) in 1929; he immigrated to Britain in 1938 and she followed in 1939. As a so-called 'enemy alien', she was initially imprisoned in Holloway, where she turned her daily bread ration into sculptures, then interned at Rushen Camp for women on the Isle of Man between 1940 and 1942. Her husband was interned on the island in a separate camp and they were permitted to meet for only two hours once a month.
After release she worked in a series of menial jobs, then as a fine china restorer for many years, while resuming sculpture in 1948 and taking up painting and drawing. Her sculpting was mostly in a classical manner, while her painting evolved into a bold, Expressionist style. She exhibited in over 20 exhibitions, including five Royal Academy Annual Exhibitions between 1944 and 1958. She held several solo exhibitions, including at the Camden Institute (1977), Ben Uri (1981 and 1988) and Camden Arts Centre (1983).
Pamina Liebert-Mahrenholz died in London, England on 21 September 2004. In 2008 a posthumous joint exhibition with Grete Marks was held at the Boundary Gallery, London; her work is represented in UK public collections including the Ben Uri Collection and the Ruth Borchard Collection of self-portraits. A dedicated website (www.paminaliebert.com) has also been launched.
