090810: Galerie Seywald Irma Rafaela’s Toledo 100th Anniversary

Galerie Seywald Irma Rafaela’s Toledo 100th Anniversary 30.06.2010 - 11.09.2010 Toledo – an artist from Salzburg After the war was over and one no longer feared reprisals, bombs or destruction, a powerful artist scene emerged. The Art-Club and Otto Mauer are renowned for this new beginning. On its path to Modernism the art scene changed fundamentally and it came as no surprise that not only male but also female artists were part of the new movement. With Agnes Muthspiel (who was also a member of the Art-Club), Trude Engelsberger and Irma Rafaela Toledo, female artists were also a vital part of the “Salzburg Group” founded in 1952. They were oftentimes labelled as “naïve” painters – something that was not the case then and is definitely not the case 60 years later. On the occasion of her 100th birthday, the Gallery Seywald in Salzburg is currently presenting an exhibition of Toledo’s works. Toledo, being Jewish, hid from the Nazis and survived. When the fatal threat was finally over in 1945, she was not only physically liberated, but also artistically. Her strong desire to paint literally burst forth: “she took a paintbrush in her hand and painted” (Barbara Wally’s “Artists in Salzburg”) and Toledo stuck to what her artist friend Kurt Moldovan once said: “You know that you must become a painter, but you must work every single day.” And she never stopped to paint until her death in 2002. Other painters did the same: one day they started to paint and continued to do so for the rest of their life. Agnes Muthspiel (1914 – 1966) quickly realized that she had more talent to paint than to write and was inspired by the dominating atmosphere in Salzburg after 1945, characterized among others by Bauhaus artist Max Pfeiffer-Watenphul, former “degenerate” artist Slavi Soucek and stage designer Caspar Neher. Trude Engelsberger (1920 – 1986) also entered the path to painting, and while Agnes Muthspiel was an extroverted artist who loved to travel and enjoyed the company of others, Trude Engelsberger was an introvert and enjoyed being on her own. And while the one painted directly onto canvas or cardboard without sketching, the other needed many little sketches before she began the tedious process of painting, characterized by many overpaintings and ideas until her final oeuvre emerged. All three of them were not naiiv, a description often used in a derogatory way and oftentimes in reference to women. Not only had these artists learned a lot from others, but also from themselves and they matured through their work. Toledo’s current exhibition clearly proves this. Works spanning over many decades are presented in Salzburg. Her top class style is documented in oil paintings, depicting landscapes, cities, still lifes and portraits. Her techniques included classic oil paintings as well as swift aquarelles, capturing moments or moods. Poetic and sometimes melancholy portraits display her talent in approaching people, and her landscapes are proof of her ability to concentrate on the essential. More and more she turned away from the object and in her cycle on genesis, based on a translation by Martin Buber, abstraction becomes perfection - presented in the “Toledo Room” at the Bildungshaus Schloss Puchberg. By Angelica Bäumer In addition to Toledo, the Gallery Seywald also represents Agnes Muthspiel and Trude Engelsberger Galerie Seywald 5020 Salzburg, Sigmund Haffnerg. 7, 1st Floor Tel: +43 662 84 04 26 Fax: +43 662 84 78 66 email: galerie.seywald@aon.at Opening hours: Tue – Fri: 2.30 p.m. – 6.30 p.m., Sat: 10 a.m. – 1 p.m.

Mehr Texte von translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville

090810

Galerie Seywald
5020 Salzburg, Sigmund Haffnerg. 7/1. Stock
Tel: +43 662 84 04 26, Fax: +43 662 84 78 66
Email: info@galerie-seywald.at
http://www.galerie-seywald.at/
Öffnungszeiten: Di-Fr 14.30-18.30, Sa 10-13 Uhr

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