Bristol Hannover Council

** BHC member Colin Evans delivered another in his long-running series of talks on German art,
taking as his subject City of Women: Female Artists in Vienna 1900-1938.
Some 25 members and friends were fascinated this time to hear about and see the work of artists of
whom most of us had not heard before. We looked at some outstanding art produced by women in
Vienna in the first half of the 20th Century.
Although facing the usual obstacles for women at this time, they chose to not to fight but to work their
way around them. Denied entry to the Academy, many took private lessons from the teachers there who
recognised their talent and supported their careers.
They formed their own societies and exhibited alongside men. They were at the cutting edge of art in all
its forms, won prizes in Vienna and elsewhere and their work was bought for national collections.
They established themselves as a force to be reckoned with in the city but this all ended when the Nazis
annexed Austria in 1938. These brilliant artists either slipped quietly into the background or suffered
worse fates.
Thanks to the diligence of a team of researchers who scoured private collections and museum store
rooms their work, names and stories were rediscovered and exhibited at the Belvedere in Vienna.
Their story is a poignant reminder of the troubled history of the 20th Century, but one that has left a
positive legacy. Even though it came too late to benefit their careers, it has enabled us to look at some
wonderful art and to wonder what might have been, had politics not so cruelly intervened.

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