Enter the women
Female artists in Linz 1851 – 1950
Exhibition view, Enter the women, 2022 
Exhibition view, 2022 
Exhibition view, 2022 
Exhibition view, Enter the women, 2022 
Exhibition view, Enter the women, 2022
Women have been present in Linz’s art scene since 1851, a fact that is not as well-known as it should be. Not only did they exhibit from the first beginning at the Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein, the Ring and the März, they also had a hand in furnishing signature projects such as the Palais Stoclet in Brussels and founded their own flourishing workshops. These female artists engaged in a vivid exchange with female art scenes in Vienna, Salzburg, Munich, Dachau, and Berlin and presented their works at the 25th Venice Biennale.
They managed to do all this, even though in the middle of the nineteenth century preconditions for women who had put it into their head to become artists could hardly be called propitious. Prevalent social conventions and a serious handicap as regards training made it difficult for them to realise their ambition. The credit for enabling female artists to launch themselves on careers that went beyond dilettantism must go to the painter Agathe Schwabenau (1857 – 1950), who played a key role in the Oberösterreichischer Kunstverein and founded the rst school of painting in Linz in 1896. Her autobiographical notes and memoirs, which are presented here for the first time, allow a close insight into the challenges female artists were confronted with in the first half of the twentieth century.
This take on a 100 years of creative work by emancipated women seeks to rescue them from undeserved oblivion and to update local art historiography.
Curators: Sabine Fellner (Concept), Andrea Bina
Exhibition Organization: Lisa Schmidt
Exhibition Design: Silvia Merlo
Artists
Eleonore Auegg-Dilg, Franziska Baernreither, Gudrun Baudisch, Margret Bilger, Helene Clodi-Tietze, Vilma Eckl, Elli Fürböck, Emmy Haesele, Olga Jaeger, Tina Kofler, Sophie Koko, Paula May-Pillesmüller, Emilie Mediz-Pelikan, Fanny Newald, Margarete Pausinger, Michaela Pfaffinger, Maria Louise Poschacher, Rosa Scherer, Emilie Schleiss-Simandl, Norbertine Bresslern-Roth, Maria Schrangl, Agathe Schwabenau, Jutta Sika, Emmy Sommerhuber, Louise Spannring, Bertha Tarnóczy, Marianne Woitsch, Franziska Zach
| Date | Title | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Fri 25.04 | Special guided tour of the Natural History Museum Vienna Insect researcher Dominique Zimmermann worked with Edgar Honetschläger on the insect manifesto for the GoBugsGo association. She conducts research at the Natural History Museum (mainly on insects such as wild bees and wasps) and shows us her workplace and the collection. | 2:00 pm–4:00 pm |
| Sun 27.04 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Sun 04.05 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Thu 08.05 | Wir öffnen die Box: Unbewusste Zeitgeschichte. Über das Aufwachsen im Linz der Nachkriegszeit Mit Karl Fallend, Sozialpsychologe, aufgewachsen im Stadtteil Bindermichl, 1998 – 2000 Mitglied der Historikerkommission zur Aufarbeitung der Zwangsarbeit in den ehemaligen Hermann-Göring-Werken in Linz. | 7:00 pm–9:00 pm |
| Sun 11.05 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Sun 18.05 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Sun 25.05 | Family workshop: Sumi‑e: Japanese ink painting for all ages In Japanese, “sumi” means black ink and “e” means painting. This painting is the art of drawing objects and themes in ink with a Chinese or Japanese brush – the unpainted areas are just as important as those painted in different shades of gray. | 10:00 am–12:00 pm |
| Sun 25.05 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Sun 01.06 | Public guided tours through the current exhibitions of the Nordico Duration 60 minutes, max. 25 people, guided tour ticket € 4 (plus admission) No registration required (“first-come-first-served”) | 2:30 pm–3:30 pm |
| Thu 05.06 | Wir öffnen die Box: Gedächtnisort Alter Markt. Zeit(ge)schichten und Erinnerungszeichen Mit Julius Stieber und Gerda Forstner (Kulturdirektion der Stadt Linz), Andreas Strauss (Künstler Erinnerungszeichen), Verena Wagner (Historikerin zum jüdischen Linz) und Charlotte Herman (Präsidentin der Israelitischen Kultusgemeinde Linz); Forschungsexkursion in die Linzer Altstadt, (bei Schönwetter), Treffpunkt und Input im Nordico | 7:00 pm–9:00 pm |
Videos
The Linz director and artist Alenka Maly was able to use the existing archive material on Agathe Schwabenau’s life and work to make a film commissioned by Nordico, which can be seen on our website, our YouTube channel and also in the exhibition. *Please understand that we offer our video production in German language only.
Agathe Schwabenau - Biografie (Teil 1)
Agathe Schwabenau - Biografie (Teil 2)
Agathe Schwabenau - Biografie (Teil 3)
Video
In a video accompanying the exhibition, the curators Andrea Bina and Sabine Fellner give an insight into the making of the show. *Please understand that we offer our video production in German language only.
