The Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, has acquired two paintings by Austrian artist Martha Jungwirth: Australidelphia (from the series Triptychon, 2020) and Self Portrait (1982–84).
This acquisition follows Jungwirth’s major retrospective at the Guggenheim Bilbao in 2024, which showcased nearly 50 years of her artistic production from 1976 to 2023.
The news was reported by Jungwirth’s gallery, Thaddaeus Ropac.
Credit: Charles Duprat; © The Artist/Vegap, Madrid 2024/Thaddeus Ropac
Martha Jungwirth studied at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna from 1956 to 1963.
In 1968, she was the only woman in the group exhibition “Wirklichkeiten” (Realities), alongside artists such as Wolfgang Herzig, Kurt Kocherscheidt, Peter Pongratz, Franz Ringel, and Robert Zeppel-Sperl. The exhibition was held at the Vienna Secession, curated by Otto Breicha.
The group showcased their work in Austria from 1968 to 1972, and in 1977, Jungwirth was featured at Documenta 6 in Kassel. The “Wirklichkeiten” artists, although diverse in style, reacted against the prevailing tendencies of the time - minimalism and conceptual art - by conveying original pictorial imagery where, according to Breicha, “reality is really in the imagination and the imagined is so real that it becomes plausible through the painting.” This definition aligns perfectly with Jungwirth’s artistic practice.
From the very beginning, Martha Jungwirth - who works exclusively on collaged paper or cardboard - has pursued a personal and visceral approach to painting, drawing on her experiences - such as travels, memories, and interests in great painters like Goya and Manet, as well as poetry and literature. These elements take center stage in her work through a gestural, fleshy, and colourful flow of blotches, brushstrokes and splatters: this approach can be historically linked to both American Abstract Expressionism and the automatism found in Surrealism, yet it extends beyond these movements.
According to the artist, the flow is strictly linked to her self, her body: “Drawing and painting are a movement that runs through me”, she says.
However, she’d never accept the adjective abstract to describe her painting.
Recently interviewed by biographer Laura Adler for Artpress, Jungwirth said: “My starting point is always something concrete. I take a subject and work on it serially until it’s exhausted. Sometimes my treatment of subject remains very close to its nature, sometimes I extract myself from this initial inspiration to move towards something else.”
Jungwirth has experienced a notable resurgence in recognition from the art establishment after a long period of minimal public attention during which she continued to produce works.
A significant turning point for the artist was her inclusion in a 2010 group exhibition curated by German painter Albert Oehlen at the Essl Museum in Austria. This exhibition featured artists such as Sigmar Polke, Anish Kapoor, and Julian Schnabel, among others.
In 2021, gallerist Thaddeus Ropac announced that he had added Jungwirth to his prestigious roster, providing her with worldwide representation. Now, at 85 years old, she is experiencing a momentum in both visibility and the art market.
Last November, at Dorotheum, Jungwirth's "Untitled," a large-format oil on paper on canvas, was initially estimated to sell for €180,000–280,000. It almost doubled her previous highest price, ultimately reaching €520,000.
In 2024, Jungwirth had a retrospective at the Guggenheim Museum Bilbao, as well as a solo exhibition titled “Herz der Finsternis” at Fondazione Giorgio Cini during the Venice Biennale.
Just a few days ago, her first exhibition in China opened at the Long Museum in Shanghai, where it will be on view until April 2025.
Martha Jungwirth was born in 1940 in Vienna, Austria, she lives and works in Vienna.
She had solo exhibitions at Secession, Vienna, Austria (with Franz Ringel, 1972); Museum des 20. Jahrhunderts, Vienna, Austria (1976); documenta 6, Fridericianum, Kassel, Germany, (1977); Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, Austria (1982); Museum der Moderne – Rupertinum, Salzburg, Austria (1991); Kulturhaus der Stadt Graz, Austria (1999); Malfluchten, Museum Moderner Kunst – Stiftung Wörlen, Passau, Germany (1999); Künstlerhaus Klagenfurt, Austria (2000); Kunsthaus Mürz, Mürzzuschlag, Austria (2008); Stadtmuseum Bruneck, Italy (2011) and Kunsthalle Krems, Austria (2014). Jungwirth’s work belongs to known private and institutional collections in US and Europe such as Rubell Family Collection (USA); The Barnes Foundation (Philadelphia, USA); Albertina (Vienna, Austria) ; Mumok (Vienna, Austria) ; Joanneum (Graz, Austria); Lentos (Linz, Austria); Rupertinum (Salzburg, Austria) ; Collection City of Vienna (Austria); Essl Collection (Klosterneuburg, Austria); Museum Angerlehner (Wels, Austria); Sammlung Liaunig (Vienna / Neuhaus); Sammlung Wemhöner (Berlin / Herfort); Sammlung Dichand (Vienna).
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