Olga Wisinger-Florian

Olga Wisinger-Florian
Olga Wisinger-Florian, circa 1890
Born	November 1, 1844 Vienna, Austria
Died	February 27, 1926(1926-02-27) (aged 81) Grafenegg, Austria
Nationality	Austrian
Known for	Painting
Movement	Impressionism

Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844 – 1926) was an Austrian impressionist painter, mainly of landscapes and flower still lifes. She was a representative of Austrian "Stimmungsimpressionismus" (Mood Impressionism).

Life

She originally trained as a concert pianist with Julius Epstein.

Wisinger-Florian switched to painting in the mid-1870s. She was a student of painters Melchior Fritsch (1826–1889), August Schaeffer (1833-1916) and Emil Jakob Schindler. From 1881 she regularly showed paintings at the annual exhibitions mounted at the artist's house and later often showed at Vienna Secession exhibitions. The work she showed at the Paris and Chicago international exhibitions earned her worldwide acclaim. The artist, who was also active in the middle-class women's movements of the time, was awarded numerous distinctions and prizes. Wisinger-Florian's early paintings can be assigned to what is known as Austrian Mood Impressionism. In her landscape paintings she adopted Schindler's sublime approach to nature. The motifs she employed, such as views of tree-lined avenues, gardens and fields, were strongly reminiscent of her teacher's work. After breaking with Schindler in 1884, however, the artist went her own way. Her conception of landscapes became more realistic. Her late work is notable for a lurid palette, with discernible overtones of Expressionism. With landscape and flower pictures that were already Expressionist in palette by the 1890s, she was years ahead of her time.

Selected paintings

• 

  Landscape

• 

  Interior with Decorated Table

• 

  Farmhouse in Etzdorf

• 

  In the Garden

Sources and further reading

• M. Schwab, Olga Wisinger-Florian, master's thesis, Vienna, 1991
• P. Müller and P. Weninger, Die Schule von Plankenberg, exhibition guide, Vienna, 1991
• A(dalbert). F(ranz). Seligmann (1862–1945), Olga Wisinger-Florian, Neue Freie Presse, 3.11.1924
• Bärbel Holaus, Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844–1926): Arrangement mit dem "Männlichen" in der Kunst, in: Jahrhundert der Frauen: vom Impressionismus zur Gegenwart; Österreich 1870 bis heute, Ed.: I. Brugger (* 1960, Zell am See), Wien: Kunstforum, 1999, S. 84 - 103
• Eisenberg, Ludwig (1858–1910), Künstler- und Schriftstellerlexikon "Das geistige Wien", 1891, p. 406, Wien, Heinrich Brockhausen
• Edith Futscher, Olga Wisinger-Florian. In: exhibition catalogue from das Kunsthaus Mürzzuschlag "Natürliche Natur. Österreichische Malerei des Stimmungsimpressionismus"., 1994, 250 S., ÖWF: p. 214-17, Mürzzuschlag
• H. Kratzer, Die großen Österreicherinnen. 90 außergewöhnliche Frauen im Porträt., 2001, Wien, Ueberreuter
• Peter Weninger, Olga Wisinger-Florian, Katalog zur Ausstellung im NÖ Landesmuseum. Die Schule von Plankenberg, Emil Jakob Schindler und der österreichische Stimmungsimpressionismus., 1991, p. 45-47, 148, Graz
• H. Zeman (* 1940, Pernitz), Die Porträtmalerin Marie Müller 1847-1935. Leben und Werk. Samt ihrem Briefwechsel mit der Dichterin Marie v. Ebner-Eschenbach und unter Berücks. d. Porträtmalerin Bertha Müller 1848-1937., 2002, p. 124, Wien, self-published

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Olga Wisinger-Florian.

• Olga Wisinger-Florian @ Austrian encyclopedia (AEIOU)
• Biography, Literature and Works by Olga Wisinger-Florian