Marie Egner studied landscape painting at the Corporate Drawing Academy in Graz from 1867 to 1872. She then moved to Germany to study under Carl Jungheim in Düsseldorf. In 1875 the young artist returned to Graz but soon moved to Vienna. Her first study trips took her to Hungary, Italy and Istria. In 1880 she met Emil Jakob Schindler who, along with Olga Wiesinger-Florian and Carl Moll, became her teacher. She studied with him until 1887, a period that would have a decisive influence on her art. Schindler helped Eigner develop her own unique style which she expressed in landscapes, capturing varying effects produced by different lighting. However, she did not share Schindler’s poetic and romanticised views, but rather saw atmosphere as a facet of Realism. In 1887 she travelled to England, where she taught drawing and attentively studied the museums’ art collections. This stay left a lasting impression on her style, her palette became increasingly lighter and thanks to her experimentations with water colours, she arrived at a freer brushstroke in her oil paintings as well. During the 1890s Marie Eigner travelled and exhibited extensively. In 1897 she joined the Association of Women Writers and Artists in Vienna and participated in exhibitions of a group of artists called “Eight Women Artists” founded in 1901. From 1900 her landscapes became more extensive in scale and view. The artist’s first collective exhibition held in 1926 was a major success.
Literature
Marie Egner. Eine österreichische Stimmungsimpressionistin, Wien 1981; Natürlichere Natur. Österreichische Malerei des Stimmungsimpressionismus, Kunsthaus Mürzzuschlag, Mürzzuschlag 1994; Nachschlagewerke: Thieme-Becker, Vollmer, Bénézit