Marianna Schmidt

Marianna Schmidt (1918-May 27, 2005) was a Hungarian-Canadian printmaker and painter.

Life

Schmidt was born in Nagybecskerek, Hungary (later Yugoslavia) in 1918.[1]

Her early life was disrupted by war and the loss of her entire family. She spent years as a displaced person in Europe before arriving in Canada in 1953.[2]

Having trained as a hospital laboratory technician, she worked in Vancouver from 1956 until her retirement in 1983 as well as maintaining her artistic career. Once retired, she devoted herself full-time to her art-making.

Education and work

Schmidt's artistic practice included painting, drawing, printmaking, and collage as well as "etching, lithography, computer art, plastic sculpture, and photography."[3]

At age 42, Schmidt entered the Vancouver School of Art (later Emily Carr Institute of Art & Design, and now Emily Carr University) where she studied from 1960 until 1964. Influential instructors included Orville Fisher and Jack Shadbolt.

An early history of dislocation underpins Schmidt's work.[1] The tone of her work ranges from distraught and angst-ridden to whimsical. "[A]ll Schmidt's art manifests her paradoxical sense of whimsy and brutality, humour and despair, anxiety and fierce conviction."[4]

She exhibited widely and received numerous accolades. Her print-making was recognized internationally. In 1997 she was among 96 artists invited to participate in the 10th International Biennial Exhibition of Prints in Tokyo. Public collections that hold her work include the Vancouver Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, the National Gallery of Canada, the National Gallery of Australia, the Museum of Contemporary Art in Lima, Peru, the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Seattle Art Museum,[5] and the Stedelijk Museum voor Actuele Kunst in Ghent, Belgium.[6]

References

  1. 1 2 Laurence, Robin. "Marianna Schmidt: Untitled (Three Figures)" (PDF). Surrey Art Gallery. Surrey Art Gallery, Surrey, B.C. ISBN 978-1-926573-06-9. Retrieved 7 March 2015.
  2. ↑ Dates and details of her life are not consistent across sources. A Dictionary of Canadian Artists gives her birthplace as Yugoslavia and the date of her arrival in Canada as 1957.
  3. ↑ Laurence, Robin (February 29, 1996). "Xerographic Collages Capture Surrealist Moods". The Georgia Straight: 45.
  4. ↑ Laurence, Robin (May 7, 1994). "Not as dull as it looks". The Vancouver Sun: D13.
  5. ↑ Press Release: Marianna Schmidt, Recent Paintings. Vancouver, B.C.: Bau-Xi Gallery. 1988.
  6. ↑ Rosenberg, Ann (April 30, 2007). "MARIANNA SCHMIDT". gallerieswest.ca. Calgary, AB, CA: T2Media. Retrieved March 8, 2015.
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