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Teresa Feoderovna Ries

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Teresa Feodorovna Ries, from a 1906 publication.

Teresa Feoderovna Ries (30 January 1866, Budapest[1] – 16 July 1956, Lugano)[2] was a Russian-born Austrian sculptor and painter. The year of her birth has also been given as 1866 and 1877.

Life and work

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Teresa Ries was born in Hungary to a Jewish family. She attended the Moscow School of Painting, Sculpture and Architecture. She was expelled for showing disrespect toward a professor in one of her classes.[3][4] She moved to Vienna at the age of 21, where her first exhibition at the Vienna Künstlerhaus included Witch, a sculpture of a nude woman clipping her toenails.[5] This piece caught the attention of Kaiser Franz Joseph I,[4] and she soon became highly celebrated throughout Vienna.[5] The exhibition was also attended by Gustav Klimt, an active member of the Vienna Secession movement, who asked her to exhibit with them.[4] She sought out Edmund Hellmer as a mentor; at first he refused, saying that "it was pointless to teach women since they married anyway".[2] Hellmer eventually relented and helped her to exhibit her work and to gain commissions.[2]

In 1900 Ries exhibited at the Paris World's Fair and the 1911 World's Fair in Turin on the invitation of both Russia and Austria.[4] Prince Aloys of Liechtenstein offered her the use of a suite of rooms beside his own picture gallery as a studio.[4]

Working in stone, marble, plaster, and bronze,[6] Ries produced both private and public works during her career. Some of her well-known nude sculptures are Sleepwaker (pre-1894),[7] Lucifer (c. 1897),[8] and Death (1898).[9] She produced sculptures and busts for public spaces; her Bust of Jaromir Mundy (1897) is mounted on the outside of the Vienna Fireman's Association building.[10] She is perhaps best known for photographing and creating a bust of Mark Twain during the time he resided in Vienna.[11][12][13]

According to art critic Karl Kraus, "her exhibitions received too much publicity".[4] Ries published her memoir, Die Sprache des Steines (The Language of Stone) in 1928.[14] In 1938 she was evicted from her gallery and studio space due to the Nazi policy of Aryanization. She continued to work in Vienna until 1942[4] and then immigrated to Lugano, Switzerland.[6][13]

Personal life

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Ries married, lost a child, and divorced while still a teenager in Moscow.[3]

Legacy

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Her work was included in the 2019 exhibition City Of Women: Female artists in Vienna from 1900 to 1938 at the Österreichische Galerie Belvedere.[15]

References

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  1. ^ Trenkler, Thomas. ""Soll alles dem jüdischen Volk gehören"". Kurier. Retrieved 18 December 2023.
  2. ^ a b c Ben-Eli, Birgit (1 March 2009). "Austria: Jewish Women Artists". Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia. Jewish Women's Archive. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  3. ^ a b Johnson 2012, p. 205.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "The Forgotten Women Artists of Vienna 1900". 24 June 2012.
  5. ^ a b Johnson 2012, p. 209.
  6. ^ a b Johnson 2012, p. 203.
  7. ^ Johnson 2012, p. 207.
  8. ^ Johnson 2012, pp. 1–2.
  9. ^ Johnson 2012, pp. 203–204.
  10. ^ Johnson 2012, p. 208.
  11. ^ Johnson 2012, pp. 218–219.
  12. ^ "Literary Pickups". Book Notes: A Monthly Literary Magazine and Review of New Books. 1: 288. November 1898.
  13. ^ a b Ivry, Benjamin (12 January 2013). "Turn-of-Century Vienna Artists Deserve Second Look". The Forward. Retrieved 26 June 2016.
  14. ^ Johnson 2012, p. 2.
  15. ^ "City of Women". Belvedere Museum Vienna. Retrieved 26 June 2020.

Sources

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