Maria Lassnig
"Der Hai in der Yps [Ybbs] (The Shark in the River Ybbs)", 22.03.1998, Charcoal on paper
Unframed: 17 ⅜ x 23 ¾ inches (44.1 x 60.2 cm)
Framed: 23 ⅝ x 30 ⅜ x 1 ½ inches (60 x 77.2 x 4 cm)
Courtesy of the Maria Lassnig Foundation, with thanks to Petzel, NY

Selected by Peter Eleey 

Maria Lassnig (1919-2014) created a substantial body of work in the fields of painting and graphics. The key notion which came to characterise Lassnig’s work was above all the concept of Body Awareness: by introspectively discovering the true nature of her own condition, she expressed physical sensations through the use of artistic media. Numerous self-portraits offer evidence of the form of self-analysis.

After studying at the Vienna Academy, Lassnig explored surrealism and then art informel, which she presented in Austria in 1951 after a trip to Paris. During her stay in France (1960-68), Lassnig – confronted with Nouvelle Figuration and Pop Art – refined her own visual language. In New York (1968-80), her interests included (animated) film and the women’s movement. In 1980, Lassnig received a professorship at the University of Applied Arts in Vienna and represented Austria at the Venice Biennale. She showed her work at the documenta in 1982 and 1997. From the 1990s onwards, Lassnig exhibited more internationally and received important prizes, including the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement at the 2013 Venice Biennale.

Lassnig is regarded as a pioneer of female emancipation in a world of art dominated by men. Her visionary work has had a great influence on subsequent generations of artists.