LADIES FIRST!
WOMEN ARTISTS IN AND FROM STYRIA 1850-1950

17 APRIL – 30 AUGUST 2020
 
NEUE GALERIE GRAZ | GRAZ, AUSTRIA
 
Friederike Koch-Langentreu, "Lesende Dame in Weiß", 1900,
Öl auf Leinwand,
Neue Galerie Graz,
Foto: Universalmuseum Joanneum/N. Lackner
 

For the first time, the Neue Galerie Graz in Austria explores the artistic production of 60 women in the southeastern state of Styria, known as the "green heart of Austria", from 1850 to 1950.

For the generation of women born around 1850, making a living from their own artistic activities was inconceivable. For the generation to follow, emancipatory trends became discernible and by the second half of the 20th century conditions for women artists had been fundamentally transformed.

Against this backdrop, the exhibition provides the first-ever survey of the creative output of Styrian women artists who often have been forgotten and marginalized. One such example is Marianne Stokes, born Preindlsberger, who achieved renown in England where she was inspired by the Pre-Raphaelite movement. Although her works are represented in major British museums, she has fallen into complete oblivion in her native country.

Curated by Gudrun Danzer and Günther Holler-Schuster