MARGARETE BERGER-HAMERCHLAG*
(Vienna 1902 - 1958 London)
Arnold Zweig in Palestine, 1935
oil/canvas, 70.5 x 50.4 cm
signed Hamerschlag, dated 35
provenance: estate of the artist, Kunsthandel Widder Vienna
ESTIMATE #Euro 2.000 - 3.000
STARTING PRICE #Euro 2.000
On Kolo Moser's recommendation, Margarete Hamerschlag attended Franz Čižek's art classes at the age of nine. From 1917 to 1922 she studied at the Vienna School of Applied Arts with Oskar Strnad, Eduard Wimmer-Wisgrill and Bertold Loeffler. In 1922 she married Josef Berger, architect and student of Adolf Loos. After that she was successful as a book illustrator, painter, watercolorist and woodcut artist, as well as a costume designer. The decorative style of the Wiener Werkstaette was mixed with grimaces, demons, figures drawn by greed and fear. In 1927 she participated in the first exhibition of Viennese women's art. In 1934 the couple moved to Palestine, as Berger had received a building commission in Haifa. There she painted portraits of Arnold Zweig, among others. Hamerschlag designed costumes for Yardena Cohen, founder of modern dance in Israel. Hamerschlag's art was shown in Jerusalem as well as in Kashau, ČSR. As tensions increased in Palestine, the Berger-Hamerschlag couple left the Mandate for England. Hamerschlag kept in touch with Georg Ehrlich and other émigrés, but found connections to the English art scene and participated in group exhibitions. After the end of the war, she called herself Berger-Hamerschlag. Her work with young people was reflected in several paintings, especially depictions of Teddy Boys, which she used as illustrations for her publication "Journey Into A Fog" (1955).
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