MARGRET BILGER* (Graz 1904 - 1971 Schärding) Infant Jesus woodcut/paper 17 x 14,1 cm signed Margret Bilger, inscribed Christ Child woodcut ESTIMATE € 400 - € 600 STARTING PRICE € 400 From 1920, the Austrian artist Margret Bilger attended the Kunstgewerbeschule (arts and crafts school) in Graz. In 1922, she wanted to become a deaconess, but her parents, who recognised her artistic talent, were able to dissuade her and convince her to study graphics at the arts and crafts school in Stuttgart. In 1924, she returned to Graz and applied to the Kunstgewerbeschule (arts and crafts school) in Vienna, where she studied graphics and stained glass from 1925 to 1929. In 1928 Bilger received the First Austrian State Prize for the best overall performance at the arts and crafts school. She returned to Graz in 1933 to care for her sick mother. In 1934 she experienced a serious crisis when her daughter was stillborn. In the same year, the Albertina bought the first wooden engravings and the city of Graz awarded it the silver medal. In 1936 the artist travelled to Denmark and Germany with a former colleague from the Kunstgewerbeschule, where they were particularly impressed by works by Modersohn-Becker and Marees. After her failed marriage in Graz, the artist moved to Taufkirchen in Upper Austria, where she met Alfred Kubin in 1938, who recognised the quality of her wood engravings and published them in a first exhibition catalogue. In 1949, she achieved her breakthrough with an exhibition of her graphic oeuvre at the Albertina. The art dealer Wolfgang Gurlitt took her under contract. In 1952, Bilger represented Austria at the Venice Biennale; exhibitions in New York and Tokyo followed. From 1950 onwards, another focus of her activity was commissioned works in the area of stained glass, which she carried out in the glass workshops of Schlierbach Abbey. Works by Bilger were represented in the Landesgalerie in Linz, in the Rupertinum in Salzburg, in the Albertina in Vienna, and elsewhere. Further artists and styles: Alfred Hrdlicka, Anton Kolig, Werner Pokorny, Margret Bilger, Josef Eberz, Maria Hiller-Foell, Johannes Itten, Joseph Anton Koch, Anton Mahringer, Otto Meyer-Amden, Walter Gropius, Alfred Wickenburg, Karl Schmidt-Rotluff, Hochschule für Angewandte Kunst, Universität für angewandte Kunst, Franz Barwig the Elder, Wander Bertoni, Max Domenig, Adolf Frohner, Anton Hanak, Matthias Herrmann, Wolfgang Hutter, Erika Giovanna Klien, Gustav Klimt, Hans Knesl, Oskar Kokoschka, Bertold Löffler, Dorit Margreiter, Koloman Moser, Eduard Josef Wimmer-Wisgrill 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. In the case of normal taxation (marked °), a premium of 24% is added to the highest bid. The mandatory sales tax of 13%, for photographys 20%, is added to the sum of the highest bid and, the buyer's premium. The buyer's premium amounts to 28% in case of differential taxation. The sales tax is included in the differential taxation.