erika roessing (1903 - 1977): The loneliness of things

In her still-poetic tempera paintings, erika roessing repeatedly rearranges similar objects; and yet each picture is unique.

Her oeuvre of around 180 still lifes radiates calm and subtle color. Geometric surfaces structure the compositions, have an ornamental effect and are combined with travel impressions and favorite motifs such as apples, birds and jugs. Theme and variation characterize the work of this rediscoverable artist, whose last solo exhibition took place in 1980 at the Neue Galerie der Stadt Linz.

The retrospective at Lentos shows around one hundred paintings by the painter, who trained in Linz (with Herbert Bayer, among others) and Gmunden (with Franz Zülow) and later lived in Essen, Berlin, Stuttgart and Gauting. At the center of the exhibition is the collection of 50 tempera paintings donated by Karl Rössing in 1979, supplemented by early loans.

The show presents Rössing's still lifes in dialog with exemplary works by her husband and sheds light on the couple's artistic symbiosis.