Blooming Fruit Tree Twigs in a Vase, c. 1900

It is in small, inconspicuous motifs that Marie Egner (1850–1940) always discovered poetic content. Against a neutral light background and on a white tablecloth, the artist here shows blossoming fruit-tree twigs in a vase. Rendered with loose brushwork in infinitely varied shades of pink and white, the blossoms form a complementary contrast to the delicate green of the foliage and the vase. Egner’s works do not merely imitate nature. Using the subtlest color differentiations and delicate reflexes, she turns this into an atmospheric emblem of spring itself. Together with Olga Wisinger-Florian (1844–1926) and Tina Blau-Lang (1845–1916), Egner today is considered one of a triad of women painters of Austrian atmospheric impressionism and even founded her own painting school for women.

AGW, 2021