Superstar and Pioneer of the Women's Movement

There was hardly another nineteenth-century artist who could hold a candle to Olga Wisinger-Florian’s stellar career. Her exhibitions were celebrated in Vienna, Germany, and at the World Fairs in Paris and Chicago. The artist also received international awards and honors in England, France, and the US. Initially, Wisinger-Florian had aspired to become a concert pianist and had only turned to painting for health reasons. In a time when women were barred from studying at the academy, she became the first female student of Emil Jakob Schindler in 1880. Wisinger-Florian was also strongly committed to the fight for women’s rights and an activist in the peace movement.

The painting “A View From the Krems Valley” was on display at Vienna’s Künstlerhaus and Munich’s Glaspalast (Glass Palace) and shows the Krems valley in late summer. It was probably part of the artist’s Months Cycle, which she presumably created in 1890/92.

Olga Wisinger-Florian, A View From the Krems Valley, 1890/1892
© State of Lower Austria, Lower Austrian State Collections
Photo: Peter Böttcher