Lotte Profohs

Lotte Profohs , also Lotte Profohs-Leherb (born November 16, 1934 in Vienna as Li (e) selotte Cäcilie Profohs ; † November 6, 2012 ibid), was an Austrian graphic artist and painter who was close to Expressionism .

Life

Lotte Profohs was the youngest child of Hermine Stephanie Heller (1897–1975) and Leopold Ferdinand Profohs (1895–1985). The latter was an Austro-Hungarian court hat maker; his father and grandfather already practiced this profession. Leopold Ferdinand and Hermine Stephanie Profohs both came from Vienna, where Lotte Profohs and her siblings grew up in the 2nd and 3rd district. From the third grade of elementary school to graduation, Lotte Profohs attended the Sacré Coeur on Rennweg in the 3rd district. Her brother Leopold (1921–1940) served in the infantry during World War II and fell two years after the start of the war. Her sister Emilie (* 1926) now lives in Bordeaux, France.

Profohs studied at the age of 15 from 1949 at the Academy of Applied Arts , where she also met her future husband Helmut Leherbauer, (Maître) Leherb . The two attended some classes at the academy together, in 1955 they moved together to the Academy of Fine Arts on Schillerplatz. In December 1955 they married in the Rochus Church in Vienna's 3rd district. The witnesses were the sculptor Trude Fronius and Franz Seipert. Anselm Daniel Leherb († July 11, 2001) was born as the only child on May 24, 1960. All she leaves behind is one granddaughter, Angela.

Since their relationship began in the early 1950s, Profohs has been an important model for her husband's works. She strongly supported her husband's work; so she almost gave up her own career and took a back seat. This had the consequence that her public image changed: “I was branded as a luxury creature, I was only seen as Madame Leherb, the blond-haired model for my husband's pictures. I have little access to surrealism ”. She always referred to herself as an expressionist.

Profohs was already internationally recognized as a graphic artist and painter in the early 1950s; her work has been bought by renowned museums ( Louvre ) and collections. Respect for her person as a woman and also recognition for her work were very important to her.

In 2018, Lotte-Profohs-Weg in Vienna- Donaustadt (22nd district) was named after her.

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Profohs created countless works, most of which have a socially critical background and are designed in black and white. She hardly worked in color because she found this unsatisfactory: "[...] there is also just as much color in the wide range of gray values ​​and shades". Profohs dealt with people on the fringes of society and with feminist issues that v. a. should strengthen after an encounter with Simone de Beauvoir . Her works have also been included in the collection of the Association of Feminist Avant-garde .

Have mercy on women

In 1957 Lotte Profohs read the first German edition of the novel "Pitié pour les Femmes" by Henry de Montherlant (1895–1972). The 700-page work published under the title “Mercy for Women” has been heavily criticized by Simone de Beauvoir, among others, because it contains many misogynistic statements. In the fourth part of the tetralogy Montherlant writes: "Progress does not take place through women, but in spite of them [...] Science, reason, justice, everything that is best in the patrimony of our species is threatened by the appearance of women." Lotte Profohs was very busy, after the birth of her son Anselm Daniel, around 200 drawings on this topic were made in 1960 and 1961. They are to be understood as a kind of answer to the novel, but the cycle has been slightly renamed. The “mercy on women” finally became an invitation: “Have mercy on women”! The book with an edition of 2500 copies was deliberately designed very simply so as not to distract from the pictures and their message. Another 25 graphics were exhibited in the exhibition of the same name in the Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in 1962. Although women's issues were not in great demand at the time, Lotte Profohs' cycle was very well received. Abandoned and lonely people were hidden from society and some were not even visible, despite - or perhaps because of that - Profohs dedicated itself to this topic.

Profohs wanted to try "to make women in their needs and in their existence visible". Lotte Profohs' drawings were created without preliminary drawings, nothing - mostly not even the topic - was planned. After an in-depth study of the technical application of ink painting by the East Asians, she painted most of her graphics with Chinese ink on Ingres paper.

Horror of passion

Profohs was a great lover of literature, so she gladly accepted the offer to illustrate two short stories by Edgar Allan Poe . The book "Horror of Passion" with the appropriate subtitle "For fearful & brave" appeared in 1973 in the series "Books from the Treasure Chest" by the Kremayr & Scheriau publishing house in Vienna. The cycle, which is shown in “Horror of Passion”, was called “The Arabesque Dreams of Beloved Faces” by the publishing house and comprises twelve sheets.

Emigrants of the time

Profohs had their last solo exhibition in 1989 in the Austrian Post Office Savings Bank. Her style has changed slowly and step by step, in the cycle “Emigrants of Time”, which was shown from November 7, 1989, the change can be seen very clearly. Lotte Profohs dealt with the topic of emigration even before 1989 and began drawing displaced people years before this exhibition. Her own dialogue with people is shown in her works. Lotte Profohs saw emigration not only as a change of location, but also as an inner departure.

Web links

• Official homepage of Lotte Profoh's estate [1]
• Austria Forum, Lotte Profohs
• The standard: have mercy on women
• Lotte Profohs in the Vienna History Wiki of the City of Vienna
• Website by Helmut Leherb, Maître Leherb