Teresa Feodorowna Ries and The Witch

• Authors: Leśniak Anka
• Languages of publication: PL EN

Abstracts

EN

The article is based on artistic research and concerns the case of Russian woman sculptor Teresa Feodorowna Ries (1866-1956), who gained the position of a prominent artist at the time of Austro-Hungarian Empire and the First Austrian Republic. In 1938 her studio was 'Aryanised' and she had to flee to Switzerland. There are three intertwining threads in the article. The first one refers to some facts from Ries's life, that seem to be significant for the conducted research. The second concerns the fate of her sculptures during and after the Second World War, with a particular focus on The Witch (Die Hexe), which, according to the surviving documents and the opinions of art restorers, has been damaged on more than one occasion, and under varying circumstances. There are also considered possible causes of this damage, which in the opinion of the author are related to the rebellious meaning of this sculpture, both in its title and in its form of artistic expression. The last thread is an explanation of the author's interest as a contemporary Polish woman artist in Teresa Ries and her Witch. The Witch by Teresa Ries is the contradiction of a consistent image through and through. Firstly, because although we see the influence of different artistic styles in the form of this sculpture and the traces of diverse cultural traditions in its allegorical layer. Secondly, because the sculpture today is damaged and some of its parts are missing. Thus The Witch, a witness of history, of political and social changes, is an accusation against the HIStory, institutions, politics towards women (artists), and antisemitism, that support patriarchal order. However, The Witch as a representation of the character of the witch in culture has an inspiring potential for political and social changes and the emancipation of minorities.

Keywords

EN

Teresa Feodorowna Ries; women sculptor; The Witch; feminism; symbolical reconstruction

• Publisher: Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku
• Journal: Sztuka i Dokumentacja
• Year: 2019
• Issue: 21
• Pages: 143 - 158

Contributors

author

Leśniak Anka

• Akademia Sztuk Pięknych w Gdańsku

References

• Faxneld, Per. Satanic Feminism. Lucifer as a Liberator of Woman in Nineteenth-Century Culture. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017.
• Fellner, Sabine. “It's a pity she suffers from the delusion that she can do men's work that she was not born to do – Teresa Feodorowna Ries.” In The Better Half – Jewish Women Artists before 1938, ed. Andrea Winklbauer and Sabine Fellner. Vienna: Jewish Museum Vienna, 2016.
• Johnson, Julie M. The Memory Factory, The Forgotten Women Artist in Vienna 1900. West Lafayette: Purdue University Press, 2012.
• Leśniak, Anka. Invisible inVisible. Women Disconnected from History. Site-specific Artworks on Abandoned Buildings. Łódź: Art & Documentation Association, 2017.
• “Le statue alla Madonna del Mare.” Il Giornaletto di Pola, 17.10.1903.
• Plakolm-Forsthuber, Sabine. Künstlerinnen in Österreich 1897 - 1938. Malerei. Plastik. Architektur. Vienna: Picus, 1994.
• Ries, Teresa Feodorowna. Die Sprache de Steines. Vienna: Krystal Verlag, 1928.
• Steinbacher, Sybille. Auschwitz: Geschichte und Nachgeschichte. München: Verlag C.H.Beck, 2004.
• Zweig, Stefan. Das Geheimnis des künstlerischen Schaffens. Frankfurt am Main: Suhrkamp, 1981.
• Kazovsky, Hillel(Grigorij). “Artists: Russia and the Soviet Union.” Jewish Women's Archive website, https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/artists-russia-and-soviet-union.
• “РИС Тереза Федоровна” (Ries Teresa Feodorowna). Искусство и Архитектура Русского Зарубежья (Russian Art and architecture abroad). https://artrz.ru/menu/1804660060/1804786114.html.
• Akt 2.5.1.4. K.11 Theresia Ries. Mendelzettel. Wiener Stadt- und Landesarchiv, ww.wien.gv.at.
• BDA-Archiv. Restitutionsmaterialien, K.44-2, PM Ries Theresa.
• Loevitowa Teresia. Registro delle Morti. No 167, 17.07.1956. Circondario dello Stato Civile do Lugano.
• Ries, Teresa Fjodorowna. 1874-1956 [VerfasserIn]; Hunziker, Fritz [AdressatIn]. Sammlung von Handschriften und alten Drucken (HAN).
• Leśniak. Anka. The Restoration of the Witch. Part II. An interview with Johann Nimmrichter. Vienna, 2019.
• Leśniak. Anka. The Restoration of the Witch, Part I. An interview with Marija Milchin, Vienna, 2019.