Born 1919 in Carinthia, Austria
Died 2014 in in Vienna, Austria
Maria Lassnig’s work was revolutionary in the context of the mid-late 20th century. Lassnig was a pioneer of female emancipation in a male-dominated art scene and co-founded the feminist avant-garde group Women/Artist/Filmmakers, Inc. She was the first female professor of painting in the German-speaking world, at the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Across media, Lassnig’s work is irreverently honest and revealing, and so visionary that she has greatly influenced subsequent generations of artists.
Lassnig has been the subject of countless retrospectives and exhibitions at major institutions, including UCCA Beijing, China (2023 – 2024); Kunstmuseum Bonn, Germany (2022); Albertina Museum, Vienna, Austria (2019); Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany (2019); Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands (2019), among others. Her life’s work has won her many accolades, including the Grand Austrian State Prize, the City of Zurich Roswitha Haftmann Prize, the Rubens Prize of the Town of Siegen, Germany, the City of Frankfurt Max Beckmann Prize, and the 55th Venice Biennale Golden Lions for Lifetime Achievement.
Her work can be found in the public collections of the Centre Pompidou, Paris, France; Cleveland Museum of Art, Ohio; Hammer Museum, Los Angeles, California; Kunstmuseum Basel, Switzerland; Lenbachhaus, Munich, Germany; mumok - Museum moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig Wien, Vienna, Austria; Museum Ludwig, Cologne, Germany; Museum of Modern Art, New York; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, California; Stedelijk Museum, Amsterdam, the Netherlands.