Helene Funke (3 September 1869 – 31 July 1957) was a German-Austrian

painter Painting is a Visual arts, visual art, which is characterized by the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called "matrix" or "Support (art), support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with ...

and graphic designer of modern times.

Life and work

As the daughter of an industrialist family, Funke studied painting against the will of the family from 1899 at the ''Munich Ladies' Academy.'' From 1905 and until 1913, she lived in

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and then moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

until her death. In 1918 she became a member of the artist group "movement" or "free movement" (from 1919). In addition, she was a member of the group of Viennese women's art. She was a member of the Women in the Fine Arts and Crafts, Viennese Women's Art, they rejected Impressionism, naturalism, and Art Nouveau design. In 1928 she received the Austrian State Prize for the picture ''Tobias and the Angel''. "''Their pictures often show women's groups or women's couples and represent a differentiated examination of the topic of femininity."'' (Geheimsache Leben, 2005) From 1904 to 1938, she has exhibited in

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Dresden Dresden (; ; Upper Saxon German, Upper Saxon: ''Dräsdn''; , ) is the capital city of the States of Germany, German state of Saxony and its second most populous city after Leipzig. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, 12th most p ...

Leipzig Leipzig (, ; ; Upper Saxon: ; ) is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Saxony. The city has a population of 628,718 inhabitants as of 2023. It is the List of cities in Germany by population, eighth-largest city in Ge ...

( ''BUGRA'' 1914) and Hamburg; she was also a member of the

Deutscher Künstlerbund The Deutscher Kuenstlerbund (Association of German Artists) was founded in 1903 on the initiative of Count Harry Kessler, a promoter of arts and artists; Alfred Lichtwark, director of the Hamburg Art Gallery; and the famous painters Lovis Corin ...

. In

, they had close contact with the Fauves. In

, she was exhibited in the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Ho ...

, in the

Société des artistes Indépendants The Société des Artistes Indépendants (, ''Society of Independent Artists'') or Salon des Indépendants was formed in Paris on 29 July 1884. The association began with the organization of massive exhibitions in Paris, choosing the slogan "''sa ...

in Paris, and at the Vienna Art Show. She was rediscovered during the last years before her death. Still life was Funke's lifelong genre, she enjoyed this genre because she could easily experiment with modernist painting techniques. Oskar Laske immortalized her in his monumental painting "The Ship of Fools" (to be seen in the

Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to: Places Australia *Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region Africa * Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco * Belvedere, Harare, Zi ...

). In 1957, Helene Funke died in her apartment in Vienna. Funke was then rediscovered in 1998 with a first retrospective at Gallery "Kunsthandel Hieke" by the art historian and art dealer Dr. Ursula Hieke in Vienna and then in 2007, during an extensive retrospective in Lentos, Linz. In 2018, she was exhibited in her birthplace,

Chemnitz Chemnitz (; from 1953 to 1990: Karl-Marx-Stadt (); ; ) is the third-largest city in the Germany, German States of Germany, state of Saxony after Leipzig and Dresden, and the fourth-largest city in the area of former East Germany after (East Be ...

, Germany. Her work was included in the 2019 exhibition ''City Of Women: Female artists in Vienna from 1900 to 1938'' at the

Österreichische Galerie Belvedere The Österreichische Galerie Belvedere is a museum housed in the Belvedere (palace), Belvedere palace, in Vienna, Austria. The Belvedere palaces were the summer residence of Prince Eugene of Savoy (1663–1736). The ensemble was built in the ear ...

. It was also included in the 2023 exhibition ''Maestras'' at the Thyssen-Bornemisza and 2024 at the Arp Museum Bahnhof Rolandseck.

References

External links

images of Funke's work
on MutualArt *
Erste Retrospektive Helene Funkes, 3. Mai – 11. September 2007

Ich bin ein einsamer Steppenwolf

Helene Funke
biography at Kunsthandel Hieke
Expressive female. Helene Funke
{{DEFAULTSORT:Funke, Helene 1867 births 1957 deaths Austrian graphic designers Austrian women graphic designers German women painters Austrian women painters German graphic designers German women graphic designers Emigrants from the German Empire Immigrants to Austria-Hungary