1000 Museums

German-born Canadian painter and draughtswoman, Pflug was born in Berlin in 1936, the daughter of a fashion designer, Regine Schütt. During World War II, she lived with friends and family outside of Berlin to avoid bombings as her mother became a war nurse. Her father died when she was four, and her parents were never married. While staying with a foster mother, she began reading books and creating paper works with crayons. After reuniting with her mother in 1949, she made regular visits to the Städel Museum and began formally drawing with ink the views from her window. In 1953 she relocated to Paris to study fashion design and met her husband, Michael Pflug. They had two daughters after marrying in 1956. The family moved to Toronto, Canada, in 1959, where Pflug\’s mother was already living. In Toronto, she painted her most recognizable series of works. Her characteristic style included painting her everyday environments, such as cityscapes outside her window, in the labeled style known as magic realism. She gained considerable success by the early 1960s. The Avrom Isaacs Gallery represented her, which launched her success. However, she committed suicide in April 1972.