Soshana Afroyim
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Soshana Afroyim (born Susanne Schüller; September 1, 1927 – December 9, 2015) was an Austrian painter of the
Modernism Modernism is both a philosophy, philosophical and arts movement that arose from broad transformations in Western world, Western society during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The movement reflected a desire for the creation of new fo ...
period. Soshana was a full-time artist and traveled frequently, exhibiting her work internationally. During her journeys, she portrayed many well known personalities and her art developed in different directions. Her early period artwork was largely naturalistic in nature, showing
landscapes A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or man-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes the p ...
and
portraits A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expressions are predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person. For this r ...
. Later her style developed towards abstract art, strongly influenced by Asian calligraphy.


Life


Childhood

Soshana Afroyim was born in 1927 as Susanne Schüller in
Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...
,
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
, into a Jewish middle-class family. Her younger brother Maximilian was born two years later. Her father, Fritz Schüller, owned a cufflink factory and her mother, Margarethe Schüller, was a sculptor. Shoshana first went to the Rudolf Steiner School, but soon changed to the alternative Schwarzwald School. She started to paint and draw at a very young age. Her mother supported Shoshana's creativity and collected her works.


Fleeing Vienna

At the age of eleven, Shoshana witnessed the
annexation of Austria The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...
. ''"I watched
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
's triumphant entry to Vienna. I remember well how I looked out of the window (...) and saw how he was welcomed by the cheering crowd as he drove in his open car (...). I turned cold and was horribly frightened."'' The family decided to leave Austria. Fritz Schüller, who had been born in Brno, had a Czech passport and left the country first. Margarethe, Shoshana and Maximilian fled to Switzerland, then
Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), ma ...
, where Fritz had waited for them and finally in 1939 they reached
London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, where they would stay two years. Shoshana attended the
Northwood College Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 to 18. The school was founded in 1870 and is located in Northwood, London, England. History Northwood College for Girls is an independent day school for girls aged 3 ...
and in 1940 the Chelsea Polytechnic School, where she had painting and drawing lessons and learned about
fashion design Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends, and has varied over time and place. "A fashion designer creates ...
. Due to
the Blitz The Blitz was a German bombing campaign against the United Kingdom in 1940 and 1941, during the Second World War. The term was first used by the British press and originated from the term , the German word meaning 'lightning war'. The Germa ...
, the Schueller family had to take refuge in air-raid shelters almost every night. The experience was very stressful for Soshana. She expressed her stress and emotions through drawings.


Emigration to America

Soshana's father fled to Spain and via
Tangier Tangier ( ; ; ar, طنجة, Ṭanja) is a city in northwestern Morocco. It is on the Moroccan coast at the western entrance to the Strait of Gibraltar, where the Mediterranean Sea meets the Atlantic Ocean off Cape Spartel. The town is the capi ...
, followed by New York. In 1941 he managed to get an
affidavit An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...
for his family and booked three tickets for the S.S. Madura, the last civil ship that would leave Europe. In 1941, Soshana, her mother and her brother arrived at
Ellis Island Ellis Island is a federally owned island in New York Harbor, situated within the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, that was the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United States. From 1892 to 1954, nearly 12 mil ...
, in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
. She enrolled at Washington Irving High School and attended painting classes under the guidance of artist Beys Afroyim, future plaintiff-appellant in ''
Afroyim v. Rusk ''Afroyim v. Rusk'', 387 U.S. 253 (1967), was a landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, which ruled that citizens of the United States may not be deprived of their citizenship involuntarily. The U.S. government had attemp ...
''.Afnan Al-Jaderi: The Story Of A Life, in: Soshana. Life and Work, Springer 2010, p. 26


Travelling through America

At the age of 17, she travelled against her parents' will with Beys Afroyim through America. To earn their living during these travels, they painted writers, musicians, statesmen and scientists like
Thomas Mann Paul Thomas Mann ( , ; ; 6 June 1875 – 12 August 1955) was a German novelist, short story writer, social critic, philanthropist, essayist, and the 1929 Nobel Prize in Literature laureate. His highly symbolic and ironic epic novels and novell ...
,
Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...
,
Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
,
Bruno Walter Bruno Walter (born Bruno Schlesinger, September 15, 1876February 17, 1962) was a German-born conductor, pianist and composer. Born in Berlin, he escaped Nazi Germany in 1933, was naturalised as a French citizen in 1938, and settled in the U ...
,
Lion Feuchtwanger Lion Feuchtwanger (; 7 July 1884 – 21 December 1958) was a German Jewish novelist and playwright. A prominent figure in the literary world of Weimar Germany, he influenced contemporaries including playwright Bertolt Brecht. Feuchtwanger's J ...
,
Theodore Dreiser Theodore Herman Albert Dreiser (; August 27, 1871 – December 28, 1945) was an American novelist and journalist of the naturalist school. His novels often featured main characters who succeeded at their objectives despite a lack of a firm mora ...
and
Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was an Austrian composer (his father was Austrian, and Eisler fought in a Hungarian regiment in World War I). He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artisti ...
. When the
United Nations Conference on International Organization The United Nations Conference on International Organization (UNCIO), commonly known as the San Francisco Conference, was a convention of delegates from 50 Allied nations that took place from 25 April 1945 to 26 June 1945 in San Francisco, Cali ...
was opened in May 1945 in
San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, the couple portrayed well-known delegates, such as the deputy chairman of the UdSSR national planning commission Vasilij Vasilevič Kuznecov. In 1945, Soshana and Afroyim married. In 1946, their only child Amos was born in New York.


Cuba and the first large exhibition

Because of Beys' activities within the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, the couple left the US and spent nine months in
Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, where Soshana had her first exhibition in 1948 at the Circulo de Bellas Artes,
Havana Havana (; Spanish: ''La Habana'' ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of the La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.
. From that time on she used the name "Soshana", the pen name Afroyims gave her, meaning "Lily" in Hebrew (the more common spelling is Shoshana - שושנה). After a short stay in the US, they moved to Europe and eventually to
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. The family was financially poor and Soshana didn't want to live her life as a traditional housewife. They divorced in 1950 with mutual consent. She returned with her son to Vienna in 1951.


Vienna and Paris


Back to Vienna

Soshana returned to Vienna with her son and eventually gave Beys full custody. In 1951, she enrolled at the
University of Applied Arts in Vienna The University of Applied Arts Vienna (german: Universität für angewandte Kunst Wien, or informally just ''Die Angewandte'') is an arts university and institution of higher education in Vienna, the capital of Austria. It has had university sta ...
and in 1952 to the
Academy of Fine Arts Vienna The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna (german: link=no, Akademie der bildenden Künste Wien) is a public art school in Vienna, Austria. History The Academy of Fine Arts Vienna was founded in 1692 as a private academy modelled on the Accademia di Sa ...
, where she painted under the guidance of Prof. Sergius Pauser,
Albert Paris Gütersloh Albert Paris Gütersloh (born Albert Conrad Kiehtreiber; 5 February 1887 – 16 May 1973) was an Austrian painter and writer. Gütersloh worked as actor, director, and stage designer before he focused on painting in 1921. As a teacher of A ...
and Prof. Herbert Boeckl. Unhappy with academic art practice, she relocated in
Paris, France Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...
in 1952.


Paris

Upon relocation to Paris, Soshana lived and worked in the former studio of
André Derain André Derain (, ; 10 June 1880 – 8 September 1954) was a French artist, painter, sculptor and co-founder of Fauvism with Henri Matisse. Biography Early years Derain was born in 1880 in Chatou, Yvelines, Île-de-France (region), Île-de-Franc ...
. She eventually moved into another studio at Impasse Ronsin next to Brâncuși.Biography in: Soshana, Amos Schueller, 2005, p.85 She became very close with the artist, whom she described as loving her "like a daughter."From Soshana's unpublished manuscripts, archived in the Austrian National Library Later, she lived in another studio that was previously owned by
Gauguin Eugène Henri Paul Gauguin (, ; ; 7 June 1848 – 8 May 1903) was a French Post-Impressionist artist. Unappreciated until after his death, Gauguin is now recognized for his experimental use of colour and Synthetist style that were distinct fr ...
. Soshana struggled financially as a full-time artist in Paris. She described it as a "bittersweet time." She became acquainted with the artists Kupka,
Auguste Herbin Auguste Herbin (29 April 1882 – 31 January 1960) was a French painter of modern art. He is best known for his Cubist and abstract paintings consisting of colorful geometric figures. He co-founded the groups Abstraction-Création and Salon des ...
,
Ossip Zadkine Ossip Zadkine (russian: Осип Цадкин; 28 January 1888 – 25 November 1967) was a Belarusian-born French artist. He is best known as a sculptor, but also produced paintings and lithographs. Early years and education Zadkine was born on ...
, César, Pignon, Bazaine,
Max Ernst Max Ernst (2 April 1891 – 1 April 1976) was a German (naturalised American in 1948 and French in 1958) painter, sculptor, printmaker, graphic artist, and poet. A prolific artist, Ernst was a primary pioneer of the Dada movement and Surrealis ...
,
Yves Klein Yves Klein (; 28 April 1928 – 6 June 1962) was a French artist and an important figure in post-war European art. He was a leading member of the French artistic movement of Nouveau réalisme founded in 1960 by art critic Pierre Restany. Klein w ...
,
Alexander Calder Alexander Calder (; July 22, 1898 – November 11, 1976) was an American sculptor known both for his innovative mobiles (kinetic sculptures powered by motors or air currents) that embrace chance in their aesthetic, his static "stabiles", and hi ...
,
Wifredo Lam Wifredo Óscar de la Concepción Lam y Castilla (; December 8, 1902 – September 11, 1982), better known as Wifredo Lam, was a Cuban artist who sought to portray and revive the enduring Afro-Cuban spirit and culture. Inspired by and in conta ...
,
Sam Francis Samuel Lewis Francis (June 25, 1923 – November 4, 1994) was an American painter and printmaker. Early life Sam Francis was born in San Mateo, California,
,
Jean-Paul Sartre Jean-Paul Charles Aymard Sartre (, ; ; 21 June 1905 – 15 April 1980) was one of the key figures in the philosophy of existentialism (and phenomenology), a French playwright, novelist, screenwriter, political activist, biographer, and lit ...
,
Affandi Affandi (18 May 1907 – 23 May 1990) was an Indonesian artist. Born in Cirebon, West Java, as the son of R. Koesoema, who was a surveyor at a local sugar factory, Affandi finished his upper secondary school in Jakarta. He gave up his studies to ...
, Lain Bangdel, and Marc Chagall. She considered Alberto Giacometti one of her best friends. In 1953, Soshana met the Zurich gallery owner
Max G. Bollag Max G. Bollag (6 December 1913 - 13 September 2005) was a Swiss gallery owner. Primarily active in Zurich, he was best known for his Pablo Picasso exhibitions. Life Max G. Bollag was born into a long-established Jewish family and grew up in Zuric ...
, who became a major promoter of her work. In Paris, Soshana had multiple exhibitions in the André Weil Gallery and
Salon d'Automne The Salon d'Automne (; en, Autumn Salon), or Société du Salon d'automne, is an art exhibition held annually in Paris, France. Since 2011, it is held on the Champs-Élysées, between the Grand Palais and the Petit Palais, in mid-October. The f ...
, the Salon des Réalités Nouvelles and the
Salon de Mai The Salon de Mai (the '' May Salon'') is a group of French artists which formed in a café on the Rue Dauphine in Paris in 1943 during the German occupation of France.Ferrier, Jean-Louis. (Ed.) (1999) ''Art of the 20th Century''. Paris: Chene-Hache ...
, where she met
Pablo Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
for the first time. He invited her to visit him at his Villa in
Vallauris Vallauris (; oc, Valàuria) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in southeastern France. It is located in the metropolitan area, and is today effectively an extension of the town of Antibes ...
and drew a portrait of her in 1954.


World travel

In 1956, Soshana traveled through
Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...
. She had organised herself an invitation by for a Chinese Ministry of Culture to exhibit in
Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...
and on her way to China, she visited India, Thailand, Cambodia and Japan, where became interested in and inspired by Indian philosophy,
Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...
and
Buddhism Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religions, Indian religion or Indian philosophy#Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha. ...
. She was impressed by the art of calligraphy and learned art techniques on
rice paper "Rice paper" has many varieties such as rice paper made from tree bark to make drawing and writing paper or from rice flour and tapioca flour and then mixed with salt and water to produce a thin rice cake and dried to become harder and paper-like ...
from
Buddhist monks A ''bhikkhu'' (Pali: भिक्खु, Sanskrit: भिक्षु, ''bhikṣu'') is an ordained male in Buddhist monasticism. Male and female monastics ("nun", ''bhikkhunī'', Sanskrit ''bhikṣuṇī'') are members of the Sangha (Buddhist ...
in
Kyoto Kyoto (; Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in Japan. Located in the Kansai region on the island of Honshu, Kyoto forms a part of the Keihanshin metropolitan area along with Osaka and Kobe. , the ci ...
and
Chinese painters This is a list of Chinese painters: See also * Chinese calligraphy * Chinese painting * List of calligraphers * Lists of painters {{Asian artists Painters Chinese Chinese can refer to: * Something related to China * Chinese p ...
in
Hangzhou Hangzhou ( or , ; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ), also romanized as Hangchow, is the capital and most populous city of Zhejiang, China. It is located in the northwestern part of the province, sitting at the head of Hangzhou Bay, whi ...
. The art of calligraphy became formative for her painting style. In 1957 she arrived in Beijing, where her exhibition took place in the Emperor's palace. In 1959 Soshana travelled through
Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...
, where she portrayed
Albert Schweitzer Ludwig Philipp Albert Schweitzer (; 14 January 1875 – 4 September 1965) was an Alsatian-German/French polymath. He was a theologian, organist, musicologist, writer, humanitarian, philosopher, and physician. A Lutheran minister, Schwei ...
in
Lambaréné Lambaréné is a town and the capital of Moyen-Ogooué in Gabon. It has a population of 38,775 as of 2013, and is located 75 kilometres south of the equator. Lambaréné is based in the Central African Rainforest at the river Ogooué. This rive ...
, eventually returning to Paris. In the same year she became acquainted with the Italian artist Pinot Gallizio. They worked together in Paris and Alba del Piemonte,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
. In a letter written by Gallizio, to his gallerist Otto and Heicke Van de Loo in
Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...
, he announced '20 paintings were made in September 1959 in Paris, together with Soshana', adding 'results formidable'. Through Gallizio, Soshana got in contact with the COBRA group, among others to
Karel Appel Christiaan Karel Appel (; 25 April 1921 – 3 May 2006) was a Dutch painter, sculptor, and poet. He started painting at the age of fourteen and studied at the Rijksakademie in Amsterdam in the 1940s. He was one of the founders of the avant-gard ...
and
Asger Jorn Asger Oluf Jorn (3 March 1914 – 1 May 1973) was a Danish painter, sculptor, ceramic artist, and author. He was a founding member of the avant-garde movement COBRA and the Situationist International. He was born in Vejrum, in the northwest c ...
. But because she is a woman, they did not accept her as a full member of the art group. Instead, Soshana started a collaboration with the O´Hana Gallery in London, where she had three exhibitions in 1959, 1960 and 1963. In 1962, she had an exhibition at Château Grimaldi in Antibes.


Mexico

In 1964, Soshana traveled to
Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
for various exhibitions, living many months in
Cuernavaca Cuernavaca (; nci-IPA, Cuauhnāhuac, kʷawˈnaːwak "near the woods", ) is the capital and largest city of the state of Morelos in Mexico. The city is located around a 90-minute drive south of Mexico City using the Federal Highway 95D. The na ...
, known as the "City of Eternal Spring" and a refuge for many artists and intellectuals of the 1960s. She became friends with Mexican artists such as
Rufino Tamayo Rufino del Carmen Arellanes Tamayo (August 25, 1899 – June 24, 1991) was a Mexican painter of Zapotec heritage, born in Oaxaca de Juárez, Mexico.Sullivan, 170-171Ades, 357 Tamayo was active in the mid-20th century in Mexico and New York, ...
,
Siqueiros Siqueiros is a Spanish surname Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other ...
,
José Luis Cuevas José Luis Cuevas (February 26, 1934 – July 3, 2017) was a Mexican artist, he often worked as a painter, writer, draftsman, engraver, illustrator, and printmaker. Cuevas was one of the first to challenge the then dominant Mexican muralism ...
and
Mathias Goeritz Werner Mathias Goeritz Brunner (4 April 1915, Danzig, German Empire – 4 August 1990, Mexico City) was a Mexican painter and sculptor of German people, German origin. After spending much of the 1940s in North Africa and Spain, he and his wife, ...
. In 1965, she met
Adolph Gottlieb Adolph Gottlieb (March 14, 1903 – March 4, 1974) was an American abstract expressionist painter, sculptor and printmaker. Early life and education Adolph Gottlieb, one of the "first generation" of Abstract Expressionists, was born in New Yo ...
for the first time and later in New York, they developed a deep friendship. In 1966, an exhibition of Soshana's work took place in the
Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes (Palace of Fine Arts) is a prominent cultural center in Mexico City. It has hosted notable events in music, dance, theatre, opera and literature in Mexico and has held important exhibitions of painting, sculpture and p ...
.


Second journey around the world

During the course of her second trip around the world in 1968, Soshana visited the
South Seas Today the term South Seas, or South Sea, is used in several contexts. Most commonly it refers to the portion of the Pacific Ocean south of the equator. In 1513, when Spanish conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa coined the term ''Mar del Sur'', ...
, the
Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
,
Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
,
Bali Bali () is a province of Indonesia and the westernmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East of Java and west of Lombok, the province includes the island of Bali and a few smaller neighbouring islands, notably Nusa Penida, Nusa Lembongan, and Nu ...
,
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
,
India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
,
Sikkim Sikkim (; ) is a state in Northeastern India. It borders the Tibet Autonomous Region of China in the north and northeast, Bhutan in the east, Province No. 1 of Nepal in the west and West Bengal in the south. Sikkim is also close to the Siligur ...
,
Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...
,
Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...
,
Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
and
Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
. In 1969, the
Chogyal The Chogyal ("Dharma Kings", ) were the monarchs of the former Kingdom of Sikkim, which belonged to the Namgyal dynasty. The Chogyal was the absolute monarch of Sikkim from 1642 to 1975, when the monarchy was abolished and the Sikkimese people ...
entrusted her with painting portraits of the king and the queen of Sikkim and the same year she became a member of the
Theosophical Society The Theosophical Society, founded in 1875, is a worldwide body with the aim to advance the ideas of Theosophy in continuation of previous Theosophists, especially the Greek and Alexandrian Neo-Platonic philosophers dating back to 3rd century CE ...
. In 1972, Soshana moved to Jerusalem, where she planned four exhibitions in the Old Jaffa Gallery. But when the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
broke out, they were all cancelled. Soshana left Israel and moved 1974 to New York.


New York

From 1974 to 1985, she lived and worked in New York City. Before she moved into her studio in Queens, she stayed in the Chelsea Hotel in Manhattan, where she was able to pay her rent with paintings. Soshana knew many people of the New York art scene, like
Mark Rothko Mark Rothko (), born Markus Yakovlevich Rothkowitz (russian: Ма́ркус Я́ковлевич Ротко́вич, link=no, lv, Markuss Rotkovičs, link=no; name not Anglicized until 1940; September 25, 1903 – February 25, 1970), was a Latv ...
,
Francesco Clemente Francesco Clemente (born 23 March 1952) is an Italian contemporary artist. He has lived at various times in Italy, India and New York City. Some of his work is influenced by the traditional art and culture of India. He has worked in various art ...
,
Joseph Hirshhorn Joseph Herman Hirshhorn (August 11, 1899 – August 31, 1981) was an entrepreneur, financier, and art collector. Biography Born in Mitau, Latvia, the twelfth of thirteen children, Hirshhorn emigrated to the United States with his widowed moth ...
and her close friend Adolph Gottlieb. Despite gaining international attention for her work and exhibiting frequently, Soshana felt unsatisfied with her living situation and uncomfortable in New York. She returned to Vienna in 1985.


Return to Vienna

Upon her return to Vienna, she continued to travel until she had to stop due to health problems in 2005. Thereafter, she moved to a
nursing home A nursing home is a facility for the residential care of elderly or disabled people. Nursing homes may also be referred to as skilled nursing facility (SNF) or long-term care facilities. Often, these terms have slightly different meanings to in ...
and continued to paint. She died on December 9, 2015. Her son, Amos, serves as her manager and promoter. In 2008, the
Austrian National Library The Austrian National Library (german: Österreichische Nationalbibliothek) is the largest library in Austria, with more than 12 million items in its various collections. The library is located in the Neue Burg Wing of the Hofburg in center of V ...
took over her creative estate, comprising manuscripts, photos, letters, documents etc. and made it available for public consultation.


Work


Early years

In her early work, Soshana links individual elements from the tradition of
Fauvism Fauvism /ˈfoʊvɪzm̩/ is the style of ''les Fauves'' (French language, French for "the wild beasts"), a group of early 20th-century modern artists whose works emphasized painterly qualities and strong colour over the Representation (arts), repr ...
with the compact, hermetic view of American
Realism Realism, Realistic, or Realists may refer to: In the arts *Realism (arts), the general attempt to depict subjects truthfully in different forms of the arts Arts movements related to realism include: *Classical Realism *Literary realism, a move ...
and is noticeably imbued with a spirit of youthful insouciance.Matthias Boeckl: The Colors of Life – Background and context of Soshana's early work in U.S. Modernism, in: Soshana. Life and Work, Springer 2010, p.23 Soshana received her first lasting artistic influences at an art school in
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, starting at the age of fourteen. Before she started to create abstract paintings in the early 1950s, she painted in a style of colorful, archaizing Realism. A style, which is connected to the political art in the period around 1945, as a minor transition phase between the earlier and more famous Realisms of the 1930s (
New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in german: Neue Sachlichkeit) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle'' in Mannheim, who ...
,
Verismo In opera, ''verismo'' (, from , meaning "true") was a post-Romantic operatic tradition associated with Italian composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Umberto Giordano, Francesco Cilea and Giacomo Puccini. ''Verismo'' as an ...
,
Precisionism Precisionism was a modernist art movement that emerged in the United States after World War I. Influenced by Cubism, Purism, and Futurism, Precisionist artists reduced subjects to their essential geometric shapes, eliminated detail, and often us ...
,
Magical Realism Magical is the adjective for magic. It may also refer to: * Magical (horse) (foaled 2015), Irish Thoroughbred racehorse * "Magical" (song), released in 1985 by John Parr * '' Magical: Disney's New Nighttime Spectacular of Magical Celebrations'', ...
, etc.) and the abstract painting of the 1950s. Already the bombings of the London
Blitz Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to: Military uses *Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign *The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War *, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
, had triggered artistic reflections in the drawing of the budding artist Soshana. Her teacher in New York and later husband Beys Afroyim, who was a committed Communist, led her much deeper into narrative art and contemporary
Social Realism Social realism is the term used for work produced by painters, printmakers, photographers, writers and filmmakers that aims to draw attention to the real socio-political conditions of the working class as a means to critique the power structure ...
. Afroyim and Soshana were very involved in the political activistic New York art circles, consisting mainly of European immigrants. On her travels with Beys Afroyim through the US and later Cuba, Israel and Europe, Soshana painted street sceneries (e.g. ''Old Street in NY City'', 1943, or ''Street in L.A.'', 1945), factory workers (e.g. the series ''My Sweatshop in New York'', 1944), people she met on the way(e.g. ''Two Black Youths'', 1944, oder ''Young Man with a Straw'', 1945) and many landscapes. Overmore she portrayed many artists and politicians (e.g. ''
Franz Werfel Franz Viktor Werfel (; 10 September 1890 – 26 August 1945) was an Austrian- Bohemian novelist, playwright, and poet whose career spanned World War I, the Interwar period, and World War II. He is primarily known as the author of ''The For ...
on his deadbed'', 1945, or ''
Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (14 May 18856 July 1973) was a 20th-century conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the US, Hungary and finally Britain. His early career was in opera houses, but he was later better known as a concer ...
'', 1945). These portraits reflect the critical intellectual environment, the Afroyim couple moved in. All of the persons depicted have a distinctly melancholic look and are all either frontal or three-quarter-view portraits, which focus completely on the person represented. From the perspective of bold Social Realism, she interpreted the psychology of European immigrants in Los Angeles and European delegates to the founding conference of the
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
in San Francisco. Soshanas working-class milieu studies on the other hand show a high affinity with famous regionalists and socialrealists such as Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, the Soyer Brothers or the Mexican
Muralist A mural is any piece of Graphic arts, graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' ...
s
José Clemente Orozco José Clemente Orozco (November 23, 1883 – September 7, 1949) was a Mexican caricaturist and painter, who specialized in political murals that established the Mexican Mural Renaissance together with murals by Diego Rivera, David Alfaro Sique ...
and
Diego Rivera Diego María de la Concepción Juan Nepomuceno Estanislao de la Rivera y Barrientos Acosta y Rodríguez, known as Diego Rivera (; December 8, 1886 – November 24, 1957), was a prominent Mexican painter. His large frescoes helped establish the ...
. Up to 1948, Soshana remained faithful to a compact, colorful and expressive Social Realism. In these early paintings, figures are modeled roughly with a few broad brush strokes without any detail; landscapes and citiscapes always open up to the beholder from a slightly elevated point of view. The scenes appear mostly in a neutral light, with neither houses nor figures casting shadows, yet these landscapes with the saturated application of colors, exude an almost cheerful mood, which can be interpreted as an echo of Fauvism. Soshana's paintings of European Alpine landscapes, which she began creating upon her return to Vienna in 1951, already show her first steps into Art
Informel Informalism or Art Informel is a pictorial movement from the 1943–1950s, that includes all the abstract and gestural tendencies that developed in France and the rest of Europe during the World War II, similar to American abstract expressio ...
.


Paris, Asia and the Art Informel

When Soshana moved to Paris in 1952, she became part of the so-called
École de Paris The School of Paris (french: École de Paris) refers to the French and émigré artists who worked in Paris in the first half of the 20th century. The School of Paris was not a single art movement or institution, but refers to the importance ...
, a representative of the Paris School. Influenced by the intense contact with other artists from all over the world, Soshana turned her style from Expressive Realism into the Informel. Step by step she eliminated the object from her paintings and followed suit with the international art jargon of the time after 1945. Her Paris paintings are being connected with
Abstract Expressionism Abstract expressionism is a post–World War II art movement in American painting, developed in New York City in the 1940s. It was the first specifically American movement to achieve international influence and put New York at the center of the ...
and compared by experts to those of
Jackson Pollock Paul Jackson Pollock (; January 28, 1912August 11, 1956) was an American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his " drip technique" of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a hor ...
,
Georges Mathieu Georges Mathieu (27 January 1921 – 10 June 2012) was a French abstract painter, art theorist, and member of the Académie des Beaux-Arts in Paris. He is considered one of the fathers of European lyrical abstraction, a trend of informalism. Bi ...
and
Hans Hartung Hans Hartung (21 September 1904 – 7 December 1989) was a German-French painter, known for his gestural abstract style. He was also a decorated World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, ...
. From the second half of the 1950s, Soshanas works increasingly show informel characteristics. Like so many other artists of her time, she was fascinated by Asian
calligraphic Calligraphy (from el, link=y, καλλιγραφία) is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as ...
aesthetics and the philosophy behind it. She had many Asian friends in Paris (e.g. Tobashi, Fujino, Walasse Ting) and made her first experiments with calligraphic techniques. But the decisive impulse for an intense engagement in studies of traditional Far Eastern art was her first journey to Asia in 1957. She learned how to use Chinese ink on paper and soon applied the new technique on her oil paintings. Although she devoted a big part of her work to the abstract art, Soshana never completely gave up the representational and kept interweaving occasional figures into her paintings.


Mexico and the Abstract Surrealism

Many of Soshana's paintings contain
Surrealistic Surrealism is a cultural movement that developed in Europe in the aftermath of World War I in which artists depicted unnerving, illogical scenes and developed techniques to allow the unconscious mind to express itself. Its aim was, according to ...
motives, like an infinite horizon, expanded endless spaces, in which mysterious shapes, masks or heads seem to float. The use of an Surrealistic language is due to Soshana's travels to Mexico. In 1960 she made her first visit to that country, which was – due to its political antifaschist position - at that time particularly appealing for artists and intellectuals from Europe. Soshana is one of those "children of the language of painting in Mexico", a "pintora filomexicana". All her life she had a deep and magic connection with the country, which is also reflected in her work. The paintings she created in Mexico or are reminiscent of Mexico have a very special character, they hold within the typical flamboyant colors and the contrasts of that country. Soshana refined a technique, she once had developed by chance in her Paris studio years before, when it had rained through the leaky glass roof onto her watercolours and dried, leaving bright spots with dark edges. Soshana began to imitate this effect with
turpentine Turpentine (which is also called spirit of turpentine, oil of turpentine, terebenthene, terebinthine and (colloquially) turps) is a fluid obtained by the distillation of resin harvested from living trees, mainly pines. Mainly used as a special ...
on her oil paintings, the result was a "kind of
drip painting Drip painting is a form of abstract art in which paint is dripped or poured on to the canvas. This style of action painting was experimented with in the first half of the twentieth century by such artists as Francis Picabia, André Masson and Max ...
in reverse" which resembled the structure of
liquid crystal Liquid crystal (LC) is a state of matter whose properties are between those of conventional liquids and those of solid crystals. For example, a liquid crystal may flow like a liquid, but its molecules may be oriented in a crystal-like way. T ...
, as she describes herself: "Some biochemists say that my paintings resemble what you see, when you look into a microscope"


Loneliness and Pain

A lonely figure, a dark silhouette or a single head between heavy bars, surrounded by wild strokes inside the perspective of a tunnel – motives like these run like a red thread through Soshanas whole work and have earned her a reputation as "
Cassandra Cassandra or Kassandra (; Ancient Greek: Κασσάνδρα, , also , and sometimes referred to as Alexandra) in Greek mythology was a Trojan priestess dedicated to the god Apollo and fated by him to utter true prophecies but never to be believe ...
of the canvas, a prophetess of doom, an artist of the Atomic Age, a painter of anxiety and loneliness, of disease and dementia, of unemployment, pain, and death." (
The Mainichi The is one of the major newspapers in Japan, published by In addition to the ''Mainichi Shimbun'', which is printed twice a day in several local editions, Mainichi also operates an English language news website called ''The Mainichi'' (previ ...
, Japan 1957)


Political works

Soshana was seriously affected by political events since her childhood. At the age of 11, she watched
Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
marching into Vienna, later the family had to flee from the Nazi regime. Soshana used drawing and painting as an outlet to deal with these traumatic events, like in a drawing, she called "Hitler as Cloun". Themes like
The Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term ''cold war'' is used because the ...
, the
Yom Kippur War The Yom Kippur War, also known as the Ramadan War, the October War, the 1973 Arab–Israeli War, or the Fourth Arab–Israeli War, was an armed conflict fought from October 6 to 25, 1973 between Israel and a coalition of Arab states led by Egy ...
, the
atomic age The Atomic Age, also known as the Atomic Era, is the period of history following the detonation of the first nuclear weapon, The Gadget at the ''Trinity'' test in New Mexico, on July 16, 1945, during World War II. Although nuclear chain reaction ...
or
terrorism Terrorism, in its broadest sense, is the use of criminal violence to provoke a state of terror or fear, mostly with the intention to achieve political or religious aims. The term is used in this regard primarily to refer to intentional violen ...
can be found over and over again in Soshana's Oeuvre. When she returned to Vienna in 1985, she worked up the time of the Nazi regime and the
Holocaust The Holocaust, also known as the Shoah, was the genocide of European Jews during World War II. Between 1941 and 1945, Nazi Germany and its collaborators systematically murdered some six million Jews across German-occupied Europe; a ...
. During
Kurt Waldheim Kurt Josef Waldheim (; 21 December 1918 – 14 June 2007) was an Austrian politician and diplomat. Waldheim was the Secretary-General of the United Nations from 1972 to 1981 and president of Austria from 1986 to 1992. While he was running for t ...
's election campaign in 1987/88, she made a series of paintings and collages, in which she incorporated Nazi propaganda texts. Soshana also painted motive cycles of the
wars in Yugoslavia The Yugoslav Wars were a series of separate but related Naimark (2003), p. xvii. ethnic conflicts, wars of independence, and insurgencies that took place in the SFR Yugoslavia from 1991 to 2001. The conflicts both led up to and resulted from ...
, the attacks on the World Trade Center or the wars on Iraq.


Late work

Reminiscences on earlier series of works and a process of compression can be clearly noted in Soshana's late work. From the 2000s on, her paintings get a very different character, the structures are more quiet, the colours clearer and the forms more simple. The motives sometimes even seem childish and naive, these pictures are little riddles full of irony and phantasy.


Works (selection)

A complete overview over Soshanas works can be found on the homepage. *1944: ''Workers in a N.Y. Sweatshop'', Oil on Canvas, 40,5 x 48 cm *1955: ''Artists in Paris'', Oil on Canvas, 73 x 100 cm *1957: ''Maroque Marrakesch'', Oil on Canvas, 60 x 55 cm *1963: ''Chinese Tiger'', Oil on Canvas, 96 x 162 cm *1972: ''Terrorist in Munich'', Oil on Canvas, 115 x 72 cm *1981: ''Rainbow'', Oil on Canvas, 101 x 76 cm *1988: ''Concentration Camp'', Acryl on Canvas, 116 x 74 cm *1990: ''Memories of Mexico'', Oil on Canvas, 80 x 115 cm *1992: ''Chorramshar''- Iraq, Oil on Canvas, 75,5 x 115 cm *2004: ''Movement V.'', Acryl on Canvas, 40 x 60 cm *2007: ''Life'', Oil on Canvas, 60 x 40 cm


Reception


Soshana in the context of Austrian Modernism

Soshana worked internationally in U.S., Israel, France, Mexico, South America, India, Japan, China, Africa, etc. That's why she largely has been denied recognition within the context of 20th-century Austrian art. The foreign press paradoxically always has seen her as an Austrian painter. Today she is often labelled as a
cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...
, a globetrotter, whose work is influenced by experiences on all the continents. ''"...ranging in style from more or less abstract impressionism to tachistic calligraphy, Soshana´s paintings represent a diary of her travels showing, page by page, the impressions and visual experiences evoked on her journeys."'' ( Pierre Restany, art historian and art critic, Paris 1969)


Soshana's position as a woman in the art world

''"A woman who creates art lives in a test situation, and the examiner can be anyone at all. Because every man and every woman 'knows' what a woman is; therefore every man and every woman can claim the right to reduce the assessment of a woman's art to what she is like as a woman."'' At Soshana's time, an art career for a woman was by no means a matter of course. The goal of being able to support oneself by one's own art production seemed – not only for women – nearly impossible, which is why many aspiring women artists completed practical training in some other profession parallel to their art schooling. In most cases it was the teaching profession, which they practiced in art-related spheres. But Soshana chose her own independent self-determined and emancipated way, in an era in which the legal implementation of equal rights of men and women and equal opportunities to work in any profession was simply unthinkable. In a letter to the co-author of her autobiography, she writes about her role as a pioneer: ''"This is why I want to write this book, to say what a struggle I went through to be a woman and an artist and be maybe like 100 years ahead of the times we actually live in."'' A good example of how hard it was as a woman artist on the market, is the fact, that even a revolutionary artist group like CoBrA, refused her as a member out of sexistic reasons. And the gallerist of her colleague Pinot Gallizio, with whom she made many paintings, did not want her to sign with Gallizio on the same work. In the manuscript of her autobiography, Soshana writes about the rejection she encountered also by other gallery owners: ''"The owner of the Galerie de France told me in no uncertain terms, that they did not like to take woman artists on contract, it was considered too risky. A woman could get married, have children and abandon her career. Twenty years of publicity and a long-term financial investment in a female artist would be ruined over-night. Since this did not apply in my case, I felt the discrimination against women all the more."'' For a very long time, the role of a woman in arts was to be an inspiring muse, not to be a painter herself. But Soshana understood that she had to develop her own individual, unique artist image and knew very well how to practice successful self-management. She spread exciting, mysterious stories of her life and created a hype around her person. Her encounters with
Picasso Pablo Ruiz Picasso (25 October 1881 – 8 April 1973) was a Spanish painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist and Scenic design, theatre designer who spent most of his adult life in France. One of the most influential artists of the 20th ce ...
were told again and again - especially the story of the day, when she visited him in his villa in Vallauris, to be portrayed and the refused his invitation to stay with him. Soshana tried to use Picassos name to get more attention. The planned booktitel of a never finished autobiographical novel would have referred to that event: ''The Girl who said No to Picasso''. Still Soshana later mentioned very often that she was torn between her pride of having said "No" and the regret, not to have chosen the easier and safe way at the side of a man.


Awards

* March 2008:
Österreichische Post Österreichische Post is the company responsible for postal service in Austria. This company was established in 1999 after its split-off from the mail corporate division of the former state-owned PTT agency Post- und Telegraphenverwaltung ( de ...
(Austrian Post) issued the commemorative stamp "Soshana" in the series "Modern Art in Austria" * 2 September 2009: Gold Merit Award of the Province of Vienna * 27 May 2010:
Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art (german: Österreichisches Ehrenzeichen für Wissenschaft und Kunst) is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian D ...


Exhibitions (selection)

*1948: Circulo de Bellas Artes, Havanna *1957: Imperial Palace, Beijing *1960: Museo de Arte, São Paulo *1961: Soshana, Musée Picasso, Antibes *1966: National Museum of Modern Art, Mexico City *1973: Old Jaffa Gallery, Israel *1976: Modern Art Centre, Zurich *1982: Horizon Gallery, New York *1997: ''Soshana-Retrospective'', Palais Pálffy, Vienna *1998: Lentos Museum, Linz, Austria *1999: Musée Matisse, Le Cateau-Cambrésis, France *2006: Book Presentation, Jewish Museum, Vienna *2007: Siddhartha Art Gallery, Kathmandu, Nepal; Agora Gallery, New York; Givatayim Theater, Israel *2008: Khalil Sakakini Cultural Center, Ramallah, Westbank; City Council of Lima, Pancho Fierro Art Gallery, Peru *2009: Yeshiva University Museum, New York; National Bank of Serbia, Belgrade; UCLA Hillel Museum, Los Angeles *2012: Lilly's Art, Vienna; exhibition on the occasion of Soshana's 85th birthday *2013: Exhibition at the Art Center of the Bahrain National Museum *2013: Austrian National Library, Vienna: "Night over Austria. The annexation 1938 - Flight and expulsion", group exhibition; 75 years after the Austrian Anschluss to Nazi Germany, the ONB shows the estates of emigrated Austrian artists. *2013: Exhibition at the Galicia Jewish Museum Kraków, Poland *2013: National Library of Austria, Vienna *2013: Gallery Art Couture Dubai, UAE *2013: Al-Babtain Library Kuwait *2014: Gallery del Ponte Turin, Italy *2014: Gallery Szaal, Vienna *2015: Theater Nestroyhof/Hamakom, Vienna *2015: Deutschvilla Strobl at Wolfgangsee, Austria *2015: Gallery Lendnine, Graz


Museums

*Albertina, Graphics Collection, Vienna *Museum of Modern Art, Paris *Museum of Modern Art, Rome *Museum of Modern Art, Rio de Janeiro *Museum of Modern Art, São Paulo *Museum of Modern Art, Mexico *Museum of Modern Art, New Delhi *Museum of Fine Arts, Santa Fé *Bezalel Museum, Jerusalem *The Israel Museum, Jerusalem *Helena Rubinstein Museum, Tel Aviv *Jewish Museum, New York *Leo Baeck Institute, New York *New York Hospital, New York *Stamford Museum, Connecticut *Salisbury Art Gallery, Rhodesia *Farleigh Dickenson University, New Jersey *Hirschhorn Museum, Washington, DC *Musée Matisse, Nice *Musée Picasso, Antibes *Petit Palais, Geneva *Neue Galerie, Linz, Austria *Oberbank Wien


Publications

*Karin Jilek: ''Die Künstlerin Soshana "A broken childhood"'' (The artist Soshana - "A broken childhood") in: Fetz/Fingernagel/Leibnitz/Petschar/Pfunder (eds.): ''Nacht über Österreich. Der Anschluss 1938 – Flucht und Vertreibung'' (Night over Austria. The annexation 1938 - Flight and Expulsion). Publication on the occasion of an exhibition with the same title at the State Hall of the Austrian National Library, 7.3. - 28.4.2013, Residenz Publishing House 2013 *Lisa Bolyos, Katharina Morawek (eds.): ''Diktatorpuppe zerstört, Schaden gering. Kunst und Geschichtspolitik im Postnazismus'' (Dictator doll destroyed, damage low. Arts and Political History in the Postnazi Era). A book about artists, scientists and activists in search of cultural strategies to disturb Postnazism. On page 50/51: A text about Soshana, Mandelbaum Publishing House 2012, *Birgit Prunner: ''Soshana. Das Malerische Oevre der 1950er und 1960er Jahre im Licht der internationalen Avantgarde'', Diploma Thesis History of Art, University Vienna 2011 *Amos Schueller, Angelica Bäumer (eds.): ''Soshana. Life and Work''. Comprehensive monograph on Soshanas life and work, contributing authors: Matthias Boeckl, Afnan Al-Jaderi, Christian Kircher, Marlene Streeruwitz, Martina Pippal, Christian Kloyber et al.
Springer
Vienna, New York 2010, *Martina Gabriel, Amos Schueller (eds.): ''Soshana''. An Overview of Soshana's Works, contributing authors: Peter Baum, Max Bollag, Walter Koschatzky, et al., Vienna 2005 *Amos Schueller (ed.): ''Soshana. Paintings and Drawings 1945 – 1997'', exhibition catalog of the Retrospective 1997, Palais Pallfy, Vienna 1997 *United Artists Ltd. (ed.): ''Soshana'', comprehensive illustrated book, contributing authors: Jean Cassou, Michel Georges-Michel, Waldemar George, Pierre Restany, Tel Aviv 1973 *Fetz/ Fingernagel/ Leibnitz/ Petschar/ Pfundner (ed.): ''Night over Austria. The annexation 1938 -–Flight and Expulsion'', Exhibitioncatalogue to Night over Austria. The annexation 1938 - Flight and Expulsion, at the Austrian National Library in Vienna, (7.3.-28.4.2013), Residenz Verlag, Vienna 2013


Film

''Everywhere alone. The Artist Soshana'' (Documentary: 45 min); direction and production: Werner Müller. Based on Soshana's biography, filmed in Vienna, Paris, Mexico and New York, the film reflects the story of the 20th century. It contains interviews with the artist herself, with friends, acquaintances and contemporaries. The documentary about Soshanas life was broadcast in December 2013 on 3Sat.


Miscellaneous

*March 2008 Presentation of the special stamp "Soshana" in the series "Modern Art in Austria" *In September 2011 seven Soshana paintings were stolen from a private collection in Vienna *Soshana worked for several years on her autobiography with co-author Toby Falk. It was never finished nor published. The manuscript is in possession of her son Amos Schueller.


References


External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Afroyhim, Soshana 1927 births 2015 deaths 20th-century Austrian women artists Jewish women painters Jewish painters Jewish emigrants from Austria to the United Kingdom after the Anschluss Austrian expatriates in the United States Artists from Vienna Austrian women painters Academy of Fine Arts Vienna alumni Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art Austrian painters People educated at Northwood College