1154 - Prof. Maria Michna

Prof. Maria Michna Vienna School of Applied Arts Design for the Vienna School of Applied Arts Mixed media on paper 44 x 43.5 cm, with frame 52.4 x 52.5 cm Signed lower right Maria Michna was active in the 1930s (including the second half of the decade) as a teacher and assistant at the Vienna School of Applied Arts (today the University of Applied Arts Vienna). She was active within the textile workshop (including in connection with Prof. Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill’s specialized class). Works from this context, including modern textile fabrics, were presented at major trade exhibitions of the time (such as the Grassimesse). Leadership and Influence of Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill During this period, the Department of Fashion, Textile Art, and Textile Design was primarily led by Prof. Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill (who was active at the institution from 1925 through the 1950s). Wimmer-Wisgrill had previously been a co-founder and director of the fashion department at the Wiener Werkstätte and shaped generations of students with his elegant style, strongly influenced by graphic and ornamental elements. Female artists such as Maria Michna worked in this specialized class as assistants or workshop leaders, overseeing practical instruction (weaving, printing, and material studies). Her colleagues included Mathilde Flögl, Hilda Jesser-Schmied, Maria Likarz-Strauss, Vally Wieselthier, and Gudrun Baudisch. In addition to her work in arts and crafts and textiles, she also emerged as a painter in the 1930s within the context of groups such as the Wiener Frauenkunst. However, apart from these mentions, her biography within an institutional framework has been preserved only in fragments. According to oral tradition, Maria Michna—aside from her artistic career—is said to have supplied the Erzherzog-Johann-Hütte (Adlersruhe), located at an altitude of 3,454 meters on the Großglockner, with food at a time when this had to be accomplished on foot under arduous conditions.