Martha Jungwirth: A Retrospective of Intuitive Abstraction
Martha Jungwirth, born in Vienna in 1940, is an Austrian artist whose career spans five decades, merging abstraction with figuration. After studying at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, she served as a faculty member there from 1967 until 1977. Notably, she was the sole female participant in the 1968 "Wirklichkeiten" exhibition at the Vienna Secession, which was curated by Otto Breicha. A transformative visit to New York during 1974-75 led to her creation of large-scale artworks. The "Indesit" series, produced in 1976, reflects women's postwar restrictions. Her extensive travels have also shaped her monumental watercolors. In 1993, she acquired a studio for the "Spittelauer Lände" series, and since the 2000s, she has focused on oil on paper, including the "Vladimir Nabokov: Speak, Memory" series. Her artwork is housed in prominent institutions like the Centre Pompidou and the Albertina Museum.
Key facts
- Martha Jungwirth was born in Vienna in 1940 and studied at the Academy of Applied Arts.
- She taught at the Academy of Applied Arts from 1967 to 1977.
- In 1968, she was the only woman in the 'Wirklichkeiten' exhibition at the Vienna Secession.
- The exhibition included Wolfgang Herzig, Kurt Kocherscheidt, Peter Pongratz, Franz Ringel, and Robert Zeppel-Sperl, curated by Otto Breicha.
- A trip to New York in 1974-75 with her husband Alfred Schmeller inspired her large-format works.
- Her 'Indesit' series (1976) depicted a dishwasher and was shown at Documenta 1977.
- In 1993, she created the 'Spittelauer Lände' watercolor series featuring the anti-aircraft towers in Augarten park.
- Since the 2000s, she has worked increasingly in oil on paper, including the series 'Vladimir Nabokov: Speak, Memory' (2017).
Entities
Artists
- Martha Jungwirth
- Wolfgang Herzig
- Kurt Kocherscheidt
- Peter Pongratz
- Franz Ringel
- Robert Zeppel-Sperl
- Otto Breicha
- Alfred Schmeller
- Arshile Gorky
- Mies van der Rohe
- Paul Klee
- Emil Nolde
- Edvard Munch
- Albrecht Dürer
- Arnulf Rainer
- Wolfgang Hollegha
- Markus Prachensky
- Josef Mikl
- Ernst Fuchs
- Anton Lehmden
- Wolfgang Hutter
- Arik Brauer
- Guillaume Apollinaire
- Vladimir Nabokov
Institutions
- Academy of Applied Arts Vienna
- Vienna Secession
- 20er Haus
- Belvedere 21
- MoMA
- Documenta
- Centre Pompidou
- The Albertina Museum
- Wien Museum
- masdearte
Locations
- Vienna
- Austria
- New York
- United States
- Istria
- Cyclades
- Bali
- Augarten
- Paris
- France
- Tunis
- Tunisia
- Nuremberg
- Germany
- Italy
- Saint Petersburg
- Russia
- Istanbul
- Turkey