Maria Lassnig *

(Kappel, Carinthia 1919–2014 Vienna)
“Stammbaum der Familie Fly von Beutelstrok”, 1979, titled Der Stammbaum der Familie Fly von Beutelstrok 1979, watercolor and pencil on paper, 60 x 42.3 cm framed
Provenance:
Private Collection, New York
Private Collection, Bonn
Kunsthaus Lempertz, Cologne, 28 May 2003, lot 244
Germann Auktionshaus AG, Zurich, 8 June 2004 lot 17
Private Collection, Vienna - acquired from the above

Literature:
Maria Lassnig, Aquarelle, Ritter Verlag 1988, page 65 with ill.

…The developments arising during Lassnig’s Berlin residency represent a fascinating evolution in
her artistic trajectory. It was during this period that she turned toward the medium of watercolor as a “scientific” instrument through which to interrogate her psychic interiority and the faculties of her imagination. In these works, Lassnig investigates the chromatic projections of the eye itself,
endeavoring to retrieve those latent images that emerge from the subconscious as mnemonic
vestiges of reality when contemplating a specific concept. This process constitutes a literal
“seeing with closed eyes”. …
…The palette of this internal psychic world diverges from her earlier, more vibrant
tonal configurations…
…In this phase, we observe the emergence of muted, nuanced tones that prefigure her subsequent landscape watercolors. This period also encompasses the “Genealogical Trees”, in which Lassnig transposes her varied typologies of body-awareness into ancestral human forms, or otherwise orchestrates an intimate synthesis between the human form and the arboreal world.

Excerpt from: Konrad Oberhuber, Die Bewegungen mit Außenwelt: Maria Lassnig, Aquarelle, pp.14-15