Born in Berlin in 1936, Pflug was the daughter of Regine Schütt, a Berlin fashion designer who was involved with anti-Nazi groups around
Werner Dissel and
Harro Schulze-Boysen in the early 1930s. Born out of wedlock and distanced from her father's family, Christiane was a shy and introverted child. When war broke out, Pflug lived with various family members and friends outside of Berlin to avoid the bombings. From 1941–1949, she lived with Frau Petzold, an authoritarian and very religious foster mother; during this time Pflug escaped into her own world of books, paper, and crayons. In 1949, Pflug was reunited with her mother who was then living in Frankfurt. Here, Pflug regularly visited the
Städel Museum and made ink drawings of the views from her apartment window, beginning a life-long interest in framed landscapes. The Pflugs moved to Tunis, Tunisia, for a brief period while Michael completed a medical internship. Pflug continued painting landscapes and still lifes in Tunis, in their house and in her studio. and then in February 1959
Kitchen Door with Ursula (1966) is a prime example of her later style. Here, the viewer looks through the open kitchen door of Pflug's apartment onto an urban winter scene, but the glass panes of the door "reflect" the same scene in the summer, with greenery and a child seated on the balcony. The view is defined by many horizontals and verticals, creating a containment that is common in her paintings, which often feature windows and birdcages. She also painted many urban landscapes. Pflug said of her art, "I would like to reach a certain clarity which does not exist in life. But nature is complicated and changes all the time. One can only reach a small segment, and it takes such a long time."
Death On April 4, 1972, Pflug committed suicide by taking an
overdose of
Seconal on the beach of Hanlan's Point on Toronto Island, which was one of her favourite outdoor painting places. A play based on her life—''Christiane: Stations in a Painter's Life'' by Francophone writer
Marguerite Andersen was produced in 1996 by the
Factory Theatre Cafe in Toronto. == Work and art ==