Seated Nude, c. 1955

Maria Lassnig (1919-2014) is amongst the most significant Austrian artists. Not only did she experiment in the field of painting, but also devoted herself to graphic art, sculpture and film art. Her early work is characterized by a continuous engagement with the contemporary movements, which she was able to explore intensively especially in 1951 during a trip to Paris with Arnulf Rainer (*1929). Some of the artworks created at that time show surrealistic and cubist tendencies. The latter are plainly evident in the painting Seated Nude created around 1955. At the center of the composition stands a geometrically structured Body in shades of green in front of a monochrome background. The figure is depicted in a distinctly abstract manner, yet the artist does not detach herself completely from figuration. In the 1950s several other artworks following the same design language, and oscillating between abstraction and figuration were created.

AS, 2025