285 - Margret Bilger* (Graz 1904 - 1971 Schärding)

Margret Bilger* (Graz 1904 - 1971 Schärding) Flower still life, 1961 pastel/paper 62 x 46 cm signed Margret Bilger, dated 1961 SCHÄTZPREIS / ESTIMATE € 600 - 1000 STARTPREIS / STARTING PRICE € 600 Margret Bilger (1904–1971) was an Austrian graphic artist, painter, and glass painter, and ranks among the most distinctive figures of Austrian Modernism. After studying in Graz and Stuttgart, she continued her training from 1925 to 1929 at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts under Berthold Löffler, Rudolf von Larisch, and Reinhold Klaus; there, alongside graphic art, she began working with glass painting at an early stage. In 1928, she received the Austrian State Prize for her body of work. Following personal crises, she withdrew to Taufkirchen an der Pram in the late 1930s, where she developed her characteristic "Holzrisse" (wood-tear) technique—a unique form of woodcut that sits somewhere between drawing, printmaking, and expressive art focused on surface and form. In 1938, she met Alfred Kubin, who became a vital friend, advisor, and patron, playing a key role in gaining recognition for her work. Her breakthrough came after 1945 with exhibitions at the Albertina and a contract with art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt. From 1950 onwards, glass painting at Schlierbach Abbey became a second major focus of her creative output; in 1952, she represented Austria at the Venice Biennale. Bilger’s work combines Expressionism, religious imagery, landscapes, fairy tales, and folk art with a highly pared-down, linear, yet poetic visual language. Key artistic influences on her development include Alfred Kubin, Paula Modersohn-Becker, and Adalbert Stifter; Modersohn-Becker’s work made a particularly strong impression on Bilger during a trip to Germany in 1936, while Stifter’s literature repeatedly served as a starting point for her "Holzrisse." Her later husband, Hans Joachim Breustedt—a painter with a Bauhaus background—was also part of her artistic circle. Bilger’s woodcuts and stained-glass windows thus occupy a space between Austrian Expressionism, modern printmaking, and religious art, blending influences from the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, the Bauhaus, and Central European modernism into a distinctive visual language. Today, her works are held in collections such as the Albertina, the Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz, and the Rupertinum Salzburg. PLEASE NOTE: The purchase price consists of the highest bid plus the buyer's premium, sales tax and, if applicable, the fee of artists resale rights and platform fee. In the case of normal taxation (marked ° at the estimate), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax is added to the sum of the highest bid, the buyer's premium and platform fee. This amounts to 13% for paintings, drawings, graphic works and sculptures and 20% for photographs and all other items. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.