Two forgotten Austrian printmakers

Helene Ladstätter

(1892* - d. 1970 Vienna)
(* this year is not confirmed !)

and 

Valerie Praschniker 

(1894-1972 Vienna)

"Fruhlingswind nach dem Winterstille”  by Helene Ladstätter.

Yesterday faithful reader Tom from (still wintery) Boston send me one of his spring puzzles with a very appropriate title. "Spring wind after Winters Quietness". A very fine print from his collections by an "unknown" printmaker, leading to this posting about two today hardly remembered Austrian printmakers. Maybe it will lead to spring in Boston. 

A little determination however resulting in this interesting posting. At least I think it is, composing and writing two more short biographies from what is available on the Internet and from my files and archive of bits and pieces. Hopefully this will lead to more new facts and discoveries soon. Please, if you have found this posting send all new information to share.   

Two examples of the same print possibly(?) color variations/trials by the artist.   

 Ladstätter, Helene   ( - died Vienna 1970)

Austrian printmaker. Known by these three fine alpine woodblock prints sold/auctioned in recent years in the USA and England. She exhibited in 1939 together with printmakers William Giles (1872-1939),  Yoshijiro Urushibara (1888-1953), Engelbert Lap (1886-1970) a.o. at Colnaghi Art Gallery in Bondstreet London. This firm in the 1920-30’s had strong connections with the art business in the USA possibly explaining the prints surfacing in the USA. She was probably a member of the “Verein für Bildenden Künstlerinnen Östereichs” (VBKÖ) because her 1970 obituary is kept in its archives.

She could be related to

Ladstätter, Ida (1892-1970)* an artist mentioned also working in Vienna and who worked closely with sculptor, printmaker and goldsmith Elisabeth Turolt-Grohmann (1902-1966) who had been a student of Norbertine Bresllern-Roth (1891-1978) in Graz 1915-1918 and  with Valerie Praschniker (1894-1972) who - a co-incidence ?- created woodblock prints very similar in execution to the prints known by Helene Ladstätter. * She could well  be identical with Helene Ladstätter. The Sütterlin (old German handwriting script)  H and I could easily have been mixed up. But a mix up with  populair Austrian Ski slalom specialist Ida Ladstätter (b.1965) could be an even simpler explanation.  

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A fast update on yesterdays posting thanks to a comment left by reader Andreas: A 1924 "the Studio" article "two Austrian Engravers": Emma Bormann and Helene Ladstätter.

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"Late Autumn" by Valerie Praschniker (from "the Studio" 1927)

Praschniker, Valerie (Valeria)         (Celje, Slovenia 24-04-1894 – 28-10-1972 Vienna)

Austrian painter, woodblock printmaker and illustrator living and working in Vienna. Possibly the daughter of Louis Praschniker (1857-1938) a railway engineer and Valerie Caroline Korab von Mühlström (1860-1942). Then she would be sister to Camillo Alois Franz Praschniker (1884-1949) an archaeology professor in Vienna. She is known by two alpine woodblock prints similar in execution to those by Helene Ladstätter (d.1970).  

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Above: Valerie Praschniker (from a thumbnail, sorry), below: Helene Ladstätter. 

And an Alpine impression by Engelbert Lap who exhibited in 1939 with Helene Ladstätter in London .

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All pictures borrowed freely from the Internet for friendly, educational and non commercial use only.