Sybilla Mittell Weber

US-American painter Sybilla Mittell Weber was an engraver and painter who studied at the Art Academy in München and later in New York at the Art Students League. At the time of the 1932 Olympics she was a well-known artist already. She combined strictly expressionist elements with Art Deco. Many of her works were animal figures, mostly horses and dogs, for which she preferred drypoint etchings.

In 1932 Mittell Weber submitted two paintings and seven etchings. The etching Four-in-Hand and Coach (28 x 40 cm), may well be a study for the painting of the same title. There is a whole series of Polo motifs from the 1930s. Probably only Polo I was created before 1932. Quite probably at least the etching Taking the Jump (20 x 30 cm) one of the works entered in 1932.

In 1936 Mittell Weber presented the work Racing. There is no picture of Racing, but the print from 1935 (25.4 x 35.6 cm, sheet 28.4 x 40.6 cm) is included in the inventory of the Metropolitan Museum in New York. In 1940, the artist had donated it to the museum. There, the work was part of an exhibition of contemporary American art by the Artists for Victory in 1942. It probably depicted not a horse race, but rather a dog race, as dogs were among her favorite motifs.