Maria Lassnig‬

Maria Lassnig was born in Kappel am Krappfeld, Austria, on 8 September 1919.{{cite book|title=Nach 1970: österrichische Kunst aus der Albertina|year=2008|publisher=Albertina|page=305|language=de}}Karen Rosenberg (27 March 2014), [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/28/arts/design/maria-lassnig-celebrates-the-artist-at-moma-ps1.html A Painter, Well Aware, Takes Twists and Turns] The New York Times, Retrieved 16 April 2014. Her mother gave birth to her out of wedlock and later married a much older man, but their relationship was troubled and Lassnig was raised mostly by her grandmother.Randy Kennedy (9 May 2014), [https://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/09/arts/design/maria-lassnig-painter-of-self-from-the-inside-out-dies-at-94.html Maria Lassnig, Painter of Self From the Inside Out, Dies at 94] New York Times. She attended the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna during World War II.Scott, Andrea K. [http://www.newyorker.com/arts/reviews/2014/03/10/140310goli_GOAT_art_scott "Her: The radically prescient self-portraits of Maria Lassnig, at MoMA PS1"] The New Yorker, Retrieved 16 April 2014.

Lassnig is credited with helping to introduce Informalism and Tachisme into postwar Austrian art.James Quandt, "Body Awareness" (New York Review of Books, Dec. 16, 2021), p. 61. In the 1950s, Lassnig was part of the Hundsgruppe ("Dog Pack") group, which also included Arnulf Rainer, Ernst Fuchs, Anton Lehmden, Arik Brauer and Wolfgang Hollegha.Larios, Pablo. [http://frieze-magazin.de/archiv/features/wiener-gruppe/?lang=en "Wiener Gruppe: Word Association"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140417150806/http://frieze-magazin.de/archiv/features/wiener-gruppe/?lang=en |date=17 April 2014 }} Frieze Magazin, Retrieved 16 April 2014. The works of the group were influenced by abstract expressionism and action painting.Douglas Crow in Ernst Grabovszki, James N. Hardin, Literature in Vienna at the Turn of the Centuries, Boydell and Brewer, 2003, p166. {{ISBN|1-57113-233-3}} In 1951 Lassnig traveled to Paris with Arnulf Rainer where they organized the exhibition Junge unifigurative Malerei at the Kärnten Art Association.[http://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/rainer-rain-t03906/text-catalogue-entry "Rain, Arnulf Rainer"] Tate, Retrieved 16 April 2014. In Paris she also met the surrealist artist André Breton and the poets Paul Celan and Benjamin Péret.Moyer, Carrie. [http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_petzel_com/cd1a47ef.pdf "Maria Lassnig: The Pitiless Eye"] Art in America, Retrieved 16 April 2014.

Though Lassnig began her career painting abstract works, she always created self-portraits. One of her earliest was Expressive Self-Portrait (1945), which she painted only weeks after leaving Vienna.Lane, Mary [https://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303824204579421603586696772 "MoMA PS1 Shows 'Body Awareness'"] The Wall Street Journal, Retrieved 17 April 2014. In 1948 Lassnig coined the term "body consciousness" (Körpergefühlmalerei in her native German) to describe her practice. In this style, Lassnig only depicted the parts of her body that she actually felt as she worked. As such, many of her self-portraits depict figures that are missing body parts or use unnatural colours. The shading of the grotesque forms then become a code for interpreting her "Körpergefühlmalerei."{{Cite journal|last=Lang|first=Karen|date=2009|title=Maria Lassnig's Body sensation, Body awareness|journal=X-TRA Contemporary Art Quarterly|volume=12|pages=66–67}} For example, red often acts as the most significant color in her paintings, sometimes suggesting pain but often just intense feeling or strain.{{Cite journal|last=Lane|first=Mary|date=7 March 2014|title=MoMA PS1 Shows "Body Awareness"|journal=Wall Street Journal}}  By the 1960s Lassnig turned away from abstract painting altogether and began to focus more wholly on the human body and psyche.Roberta Smith (22 November 2002), [https://www.nytimes.com/2002/11/22/arts/art-in-review-maria-lassnig.html Art in review; Maria Lassnig] The New York Times. Since that time she created hundreds of self-portraits. Most of her work in the 1970s and 1980s paired her own image with objects, animals or other people, frequently with a blocked out or averted gaze, suggesting interiority.{{Cite book|title=WACK! Art and the Feminist Revolution|last=Mark|first=Lisa Gabrielle|publisher=The MIT Press|year=2007|pages=259–260}}

From 1968 to 1980, Lassnig lived in New York City.Woeller, Marcus. [http://www.blouinartinfo.com/news/story/936897/having-won-venices-golden-lion-maria-lassnig-gets-her-due-in "Having Won Venice's Golden Lion, Maria Lassnig Gets Her Due in Hamburg"] ArtInfo, Retrieved 16 April 2014. From 1970 to 1972 she studied animated film at the School of Visual Arts in New York City.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} During this time she made six short films, including Selfportrait (1971) and Couples (1972).[http://prod-images.exhibit-e.com/www_petzel_com/ML_Master_CV.pdf "Maria Lassnig Master CV"] Petzel Gallery, Retrieved 17 April 2014. Her most famous film, however, Kantate (also known as The Ballad of Maria Lassnig), was produced in 1992 when she was seventy-three years old.[http://www.artfilms.co.uk/Detail.aspx?ItemID=4207&noredirect=true "Maria Lassnig"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306061734/http://www.artfilms.co.uk/detail.aspx?itemid=4207&noredirect=true |date=6 March 2016 }} Art Films, Retrieved 17 April 2014. Kantate (1992) depicts a filmic self-portrait of the artist set to songs and music.

In 1980, she returned to become a professor at the University of Applied Arts Vienna, becoming the first female professor of painting in a German-speaking country.{{Cite book|title=Animation: A World History: Volume II: The Birth of a Style - The Three Markets|last=Bendazzi|first=Giannalberto|publisher=CRC Press|year=2015|isbn=9781317519904}} She was a chair at the University until 1997. In 1997 she also published a book of her drawings entitled Die Feder ist die Schwester des Pinsels (or The Pen is the Sister of the Paintbrush).{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} She continued to paint, and in 2008 made her provocative self-portrait, You or Me, which exemplifies the often confrontational nature of her works.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2008/apr/24/art.austria|title=Truth and dare: Adrian Searle talks to painter Maria Lassnig|last=Searle|first=Adrian|date=24 April 2008|publisher=The Guardian|access-date=17 May 2019|issn=0261-3077}}

In 2013 Lassnig received the Golden Lion Award for lifetime achievement at the 55th Venice Biennale.{{cite book |title=Great women artists |date=2019 |publisher=Phaidon Press |isbn=978-0714878775 |page=232}}

Maria lassnig selbstportraet expressiv 1945.jpg|Painting "Selbstporträt expressiv" (Expressive Self-Portrait), 1945

Maria lassnig dicke gruene 1961.jpg|Painting "Dicke Grüne" (Fat Green), 1961

Maria lassnig selbstportraet mit stab 1971.jpg|painting "Selbstporträt mit Stab" (Self-Portrait with Stick), 1971

Maria lassnig ohne titel 1981.jpg|Drawing "Untitled (Screaming Woman)", 1981

Maria-lassnig-zwei-arten-zu-sein-doppelselbstportraet-2000.tif | Painting "Zwei Arten zu sein (Doppelselbstporträt)" – Two Ways of Being (Double Self-Portrait), 2000

Well into her sixties and late in her career, Lassnig began to receive widespread recognition, especially in Europe. She represented Austria at the Venice Biennale with Valie Export in 1980.[http://www.bka.gv.at/site/infodate__07.07.2005/4529/default.aspx#id12055 bka.gv.at] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061010003008/http://www.bka.gv.at/site/infodate__07.07.2005/4529/default.aspx |date=10 October 2006 }} In 1996 a retrospective of her work was held at the Centre Georges Pompidou. She participated in documenta in both 1982 and 1997.{{citation needed|date=February 2018}} For the 2005/2006 season at the Vienna State Opera she designed the large-scale (176 m²) Breakfast with Ear for the ongoing series "Safety curtain", conceived by museum in progress. In 2008 an exhibition of her recent paintings was shown at the Serpentine GalleryLaura Cumming, [http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/visualart/story/0,,2276438,00.html A stunning body of work], The Observer, 27 April 2008{{cite web|url=http://www.serpentinegallery.org/2007/04/maria_lassnigmarch_2008.html |title=Maria Lassnig |publisher=Serpentine Galleries |accessdate=25 January 2014}} which also travelled to the Contemporary Arts Center in the Lois & Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati (2009). The exhibition was curated by Julia Peyton-Jones and Hans Ulrich Obrist in association with Rebecca Morrill and featured thirty canvases and seven films.

Lassnig's later solo exhibitions included It's art that keeps one ever young, Städtische Galerie im Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany (2010), 'Maria Lassnig. Films’, Friedrich Petzel Gallery, New York NY, (2011), and The Location of Pictures, Universalmuseum Joanneum; Graz (2012).{{cite web |url=http://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/neue-galerie-graz/exhibitions/exhibitions/events/event/17.11.2012-28.04.2013/maria-lassnig-2 |title=Maria Lassnig: The Location of Pictures |publisher=Neue Galerie Graz |date=2012 |accessdate=5 February 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150205155123/http://www.museum-joanneum.at/en/neue-galerie-graz/exhibitions/exhibitions/events/event/17.11.2012-28.04.2013/maria-lassnig-2 |archive-date=5 February 2015 |url-status=dead }} as well as Deichtorhallen; Hamburg (2013).{{cite web|url=http://www.deichtorhallen.de/index.php?id=342&L=1 |title=Maria Lassnig: The Location of Pictures |publisher=Deichtorhallen Hamburg |date=2013 |accessdate=25 January 2014}}

MoMA PS1 held a major exhibition in 2014 of works, many of which that had not previously been seen in the United States before including 50 paintings, filmic works and a selection of watercolors.{{Cite web|url=http://momaps1.org/exhibitions/view/376|title=MoMA PS1}} They have continued to show her films, as in the 2018 exhibition Maria Lassnig: New York Films 1970-1980. {{Cite web|url=https://www.moma.org/calendar/exhibitions/3928?locale=en|title=Maria Lassnig: New York Films 1970–1980|website=The Museum of Modern Art|language=en|access-date=17 May 2019}}

Since 2014, the year of her death, her work was shown at the Fondacio Tapies in Barcelona (2015), Tate Liverpool (2016), the Albertina, Vienna (2017),{{Cite web|url=https://albertina.at/en/exhibitions/maria-lassnig-dialogues/#=|title=Retrospective of the drawings and watercolours Maria Lassnig Dialogues|publisher=Albertina|year=2017|access-date=23 March 2019}} and the Zachęta National Gallery of Art, Warsaw (2017),{{Cite web|url=https://zacheta.art.pl/pl/wystawy/maria-lassnig=|title=Zachęta National Gallery of Art}} the National Gallery in Prague (2018),{{Cite web|url=https://www.ngprague.cz/en/exposition-detail/maria-lassnig/=|title=Maria Lessnig|publisher=National Gallery Prague|access-date=23 March 2019}} Kunstmuseum Basel (2018),{{Cite web|url=https://kunstmuseumbasel.ch/en/exhibitions/2018/lassnig/=|title=Exhibitions Maria Lassnig Dialogues|publisher=kunstmuseumbasel.ch|access-date=23 March 2019}} and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam (2019).{{Cite web|url=https://www.stedelijk.nl/en/exhibitions/maria-lassnig=|title=Maria Lassnig Ways of Being|publisher=stedelijk.nl|year=2019|access-date=29 July 2019}} Lassnig's work was included in the 2022 exhibition Women Painting Women at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.{{cite web |title=Women Painting Women |url=https://www.themodern.org/exhibition/women-painting-women |publisher=Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth |access-date=14 May 2022}}

Lassnig's work is held in the following permanent collections:

• Museum of Modern Art, New York{{cite web|url=http://www.moma.org/collection/browse_results.php?criteria=O%3AAD%3AE%3A3402&page_number=1&template_id=6&sort_order=1 |title=Maria Lassnig (Austrian, born 1919) |publisher=Museum of Modern Art|accessdate=25 January 2014}}
• Albertina, Vienna{{Cite web|url=https://www.albertina.at/en/collections/painting-sculpture/|title=Paintings & Sculpture|publisher=The Albertina Museum Vienna|access-date=17 May 2019}}

Critics have pointed to the influence that Lassnig's work had on contemporary artists like Nicole Eisenman, Dana Schutz, Thomas Schütte, and Amy Sillman.

Founded in 2015, the Maria Lassnig Foundation is dedicated to propagating the extensive oeuvre of the artist and to ensure that Lassnig's legacy is secured over the long term.[http://www.marialassnig.org marialassnig.org: Maria Lassnig Foundation]

• Creative Artists Public Service Program Fellowship in the field of film of The New York City Council on the Arts (1973/1974){{Cite web|title=New York State Council on the Arts Annual Report 1973 –74|url=https://arts.ny.gov/sites/default/files/Annual%20Report%201973%20-%2074.pdf|website=New York State Council on the Arts|page=135}}

A biopic on her life was made by Anja Salomonowitz in 2024. Titled as Sleeping with a Tiger, the film will have world premiere in February 2024, as part of the 74th Berlin International Film Festival, in Forum.{{cite web|url=https://kaernten.orf.at/stories/3152942/ |title=Leben von Maria Lassnig wird verfilmt |trans-title= Life of Maria Lassnig is being made into a film|website= ORF |date=25 April 2022|access-date=2 February 2024|language=de}}{{cite web |url=https://www.screendaily.com/news/berlinale-unveils-complete-2024-panorama-generation-forum-sections/5189510.article |title=Berlinale unveils complete 2024 Panorama, Generation, Forum sections |first= Ben |last= Dalton |date=17 January 2024 |access-date=2 February 2024 |website=ScreenDaily |language=en}}

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• {{Cite journal |last1=Williams |first1=Gilda |title=How Embarrassing! |journal=Tate Etc. |issue=37 |page=1 |date=2016 |issn=1743-8853 }}
• Eszter Kondor, Michael Loebenstein, Peter Pakesch, Hans Werner Poschauko (ed.): Maria Lassnig. Film Works. FilmmuseumSynemaPublikationen, Vienna 2021. ISBN 978-3-901644-86-3

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Category:1919 births

Category:2014 deaths

Category:20th-century Austrian painters

Category:21st-century Austrian painters

Category:21st-century Austrian women artists

Category:Burials at the Vienna Central Cemetery

Category:Austrian modern painters

Category:People from Sankt Veit an der Glan District

Category:Recipients of the Grand Austrian State Prize

Category:Recipients of the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art

Category:Theodor Körner Prize recipients

Category:Austrian contemporary artists

Category:Neo-expressionist artists

Category:20th-century Austrian women painters

Category:21st-century women painters