Marta Elisabet Fossel

Marta Elisabet Fossel before the First World War.

Marta Elisabet Fossel printing in her studio in Graz 1915.

Marta Elisabet Fossel (also Martha Elisabeth Fossel , Marta E. Fossel ; born May 16, 1880 in Liezen , † April 20, 1965 in Graz ) was an Austrian artist . As a graphic designer , illustrator and painter , she spent most of her life in Graz.

Life

Marta Elisabet Fossel was the daughter of Viktor Fossel (1846–1913), who was a medical officer in Liezen until the family moved to Graz, where he became director of the Graz General Hospital in 1892 and thus played a major role in its planning and new construction.

In 1895 and 1896 she received lessons from Ludwig Kainzbauer . In 1903 she was a pupil of the Styrian master class for painting at the drawing academy in Graz with Alfred Schrötter , but at that time she also drew at "Anatomy", where a number of large-format studies were made.

Until 1910 Fossel worked independently in Graz. In 1906 she undertook a trip to the Mediterranean that took her to Tunis. In 1910 she went to Rome with her parents, where she did studies during her stay of several weeks. From 1910 to 1912/1913 she studied at the Munich Women's Academy under Max Feldbauer . Fossel became a member of the female artists' association in Munich. At the same time she was a student at Johann Brockhoff's Munich Radierschule . Since she was not allowed to study at the academy as a woman at that time, she took private lessons from Peter Halm, who supported her with participation in exhibitions in Munich and beyond her studies. She received further training from the Viennese engraver Alfred Cossmann , with whom she was on friendly terms throughout her life. From 1913 Fossel again worked independently in Graz with his own copper printing press. As before her time in Munich, she taught in particular aristocrats and the daughters and sons of wealthy parents. But she also printed for fellow artists such as B. Carl Rotky or Fritz Silberbauer .

During the First World War she did hospital service in the Merrscheinschloss in Graz, drew war calendars and continued to work on commissions while the exhibition activity was minimized. The war theme flowed into their work. Topics were Carter of Death , The Reaper or 1918 Fever , which as Spanish flu claimed more lives than the war.

From autumn 1918 she attended lectures on folklore at the University of Graz . In 1919 and 1920 she joined forces with Graz artists such as Fritz Silberbauer, Axl Leskoschek , Alwine Hotter, Norbertine Bresslern-Roth , Erich Hönig-Hönigsberg, Igo Klemencic, Pipo Peteln, Emmy Hiesleitner-Singer and Hanns Wagula in the loose and progressive artists' association " Freiland “together. In this context, leaves such as Salome , Spider or Marionettes were created . At that time, a network with sales was achieved beyond the Austrian borders, which had become manageable after the collapse of the monarchy.

In the early 1920s, Fossel supplied the Society of Friends and exhibited in London in 1921. There she signed a 3-year contract with the Medici Society for the distribution of her prints in all English-speaking countries and the USA. Sales to New York and London as well as bookplate orders from this area were the result. Fossel spoke English fluently, which was an advantage for her during the British occupation after World War II. At the same time she became active for the association "Südmark" , in 1922 she designed the Südmarkkalender. She also illustrated for Viktor Geramb , who founded the Styrian Folklore Museum as a department of the Landesmuseum Joanneum in 1913 and headed it until 1949. In 1923 she drew surgical images for the orthopedic surgeon Hans Spitzy in Vienna, and in 1925 she made orthopedic drawings for Mattheis. In 1924 a portrait of Peter Rosegger was created for the “Südmark” association , and Viktor Geramb also made a portrait of her that year.

She worked on drafts, drew, printed and took care of loan transactions and all commissioned communication for illustrations, bookplates, posters and other commercial art. She was economically independent and asserted herself confidently in the artistic world of men.

Fossel exhibited regularly and was involved in artist associations. The year 1928 represented a high point. In that year she was the only woman in the permanent delegation of Styrian visual artists and on the exhibition committee, alongside the painters Hermann Bergmeister , Leo Scheu and Fritz Silberbauer , as well as the architects Karl Hoffmann, Ludwig Lepuschitz and Adolf Schmidsfelden the only female curator of the Styrian anniversary art show in 1928. This exhibition brought together the Styrian Artists 'Cooperative , the Graz Artists' Association , the Styrian Art Association , the Graz Secession , the Styrian Werkbund and the Central Association of Architects of Austria (Graz local group) in an extensive show in the industrial hall from June 23 to August 30 1928.

During the Second World War, Fossel worked in conformity with the system and served the Nazi regime in the field of commercial graphics . However, no relevant memberships can be proven for either of them. Marta Fossel associated Viktor Geramb not only with a lively interest in folklore and local traditions, but also with a closeness to Catholicism . Christian motifs are a regular part of their work.

They made friendships with the animal painter Norbertine Bresslern-Roth from Graz , the Viennese artist Therese von Mor, the writer Paula Grogger and the applied artist Dora Wibiral . After the Second World War, like many artists of her generation, she did not find any connection with the new art movements. Marta Fossel was unmarried and childless. She died in Graz in 1965.

Memberships

• Female Artists Association Munich
• Art Association of Styria
• Association of visual artists of Vienna
• Association of women artists Vienna
• Artists' Association Bund Freiland

Prices

• 1906: Graz silver medal
• 1914: Decoration of Honor II from the Red Cross
• 1921: Golden State Medal in Graz
• 1926: State Prize
• 1928: Silver jubilee medal from the city of Graz
• 1929: Austrian Golden Merit Medal
• 1932: Graz State Prize
• 1932: Leoben State Prize
• 1935: Graz State Prize
• 1936: State Medal Graz
• 1937: Graz State Prize

Exhibitions

• 1912: Collective exhibition, Kunstverein, Graz
• 1914: Collective exhibition, Kunstverein, Graz
• 1914: Collective exhibition of the Munich Etcher Association at the Munich Art Association
• 1914: Collective exhibition in the Munich Artists' Association
• 1914: Leipzig "Bugra", special group "The Woman"
• 1918: Steiermärkische Kunstverein, spring exhibition
• 1919: Competition of the "Freiland" sign for poster and sealing stamp for "Grazer Urania", first prize for a design. (Jury: Prof. Bergemeister, Semetkowski, Silberbauer)
• 1919: Winter exhibition of the Association of Austrian Women Artists in Vienna in the Künstlerhaus on Karlsplatz .
• 1919: Annual exhibition of the Association of Austrian Women Artists
• 1920: Spring exhibition of the Styrian Art Association in Graz
• 1920: Annual exhibition in the Glaspalast in Munich (by the etcher association)
• 1920: Collective exhibition of the "Freiland" in the Secession in Vienna
• 1920: Summer exhibition of the Association of Austrian Women Artists ( Palais Schwarzenberg )
• 1921: Collective exhibition, Kunstverein, Graz
• 1923: Collective exhibition, Kunstverein, Graz
• 1938: Graz, arts and crafts
• 1938: Leoben, art exhibition
• 1938: Graz, Christmas exhibition
• 1938: Munich, GDK
• 1939: Graz, Styria, "Country and People"
• 1939: Munich, GDK
• 1940: Graz, "Home in Work and Struggle"
• 1941: Graz, art exhibition Graz
• 1941: Graz, autumn exhibition
• 1942: Strasbourg, "Styrian Art in Strasbourg"
• 1944: Graz, spring exhibition
• 1945: Graz, 1st exhibition of Styrian art
• 1950: Graz, collective exhibition
• 1980: Graz, New Gallery
• 1982: Graz, Bildungshaus Maria Trost (with Hießleitner-Singer)
• 2010: “The Art of Adaptation”, Graz City Museum , Graz

swell

• Bruno Binder: A local artist. In: Grazer Volksblatt, August 31, 1919, no p.
• Elsa Brezina: Marta Elisabet Fossel. In: Der getreue Eckehart , Heft 5, II, Vienna 1929, p. 421f.
• Erich Gschwend. Martha Elisabeth Fossel, “Chamber Painter” of Styria. In: Styrian reports. 4/1960, H5, p. 100ff.
• Gundl Holaubek-Lawatsch: Marta Elisabet Fossel. Memorial exhibition. Exhibition cat. New Gallery Graz, 1980.
• Herbert Lipsky: Art of a Dark Time. The fine arts in Styria at the time of National Socialism. A manual. Graz 2010.
• Wilfried A. Skreiner: 100 years of the Steiermärkischer Kunstverein 1865–1965. Graz 1965.

literature

• Monika Holzer-Kernbichler: Norbertine Bresslern-Roth and Marta Elisabet Fossel. On the trail of a friendship between two artists. In: Christa Steinle (Ed.): Norbertine Bresslern-Roth. Animal painter. Exhibition catalog. New Gallery Graz, Graz 2016.
• Marta-Elisabet-Fossel memorial exhibition: 20.3. - April 13, 1980, Graz, Neue Galerie at the Landesmuseum Joanneum. [Catalog ed .: Gertrude Fink, Hannelore Pock]
• West Styrian folk poetry. Publishing house for collectors, Graz 1975.
• Georg Walter Schober: Poetic Everyday Life. Leuschner & Lubensky, Graz 1954.
• Pauline Bayer: Child fun all year round. Leykam, Graz [1949].
• Alpine costumes of our time. Styria, Graz 1937.
• Folk songs and yodels from the Upper Styrian Mur region.
• Viktor Zack. Austrian Bundesverlag f. Lessons, Science u. Art, Vienna 1927.
• Mathilde zu Stubenberg: home earth. Moser, Graz 1916.

Web links

Commons : Marta Elisabet Fossel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Marta Elisabet Fossel in the catalog of the German National Library
• Literature by and about Marta Elisabet Fossel in the bibliographic database WorldCat
• Archive Belvedere Vienna

Individual evidence

1. ^ Marta Elisabet Fossel | Galleria d'Arte Thule. Retrieved May 17, 2020 .