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Marianna Schmidt

 

  • born in Hungary
  • immigrated to England ca. 1956, and to Canada ca. 1961
  • B.F.A., Printmaking, Vancouver School of Art, Vancouver, British Columbia (1965)

Marianna Schmidt became well-known in the 1960s for using a variety of styles that draw on the Japanese woodblock, abstract expressionism and surrealism. This eclectic style of working is suited to her often whimsical subject matter, which in this earlier work revolved around goblin-like figures in strange landscapes and interiors, mixing comedy with an undertone of horror and grotesqueness. An example is her 1966 The Dialogue on the Bridge, a humorous yet horrific scene of a bridge spanning a river. On both sides of the bridge goblin forms are dancing, fighting, and chasing each other. In the 1970s, Schmidt moved from etching to explore lithography, screen printing and sculpture, using photo-realism and minimal geometric forms. Her Bolivian Hats (1977) shows a stack of round hats in a grassy landscape. The hats, already surreal in these surroundings, are explored by strange, tiny female figures that crawl about them, sometimes hiding under their rims. Schmidt also used this period of discovery to travel and expand her art historical knowledge. In the 1980s she changed focus once again and decided to concentrate on painting, returning to the kind of figuration she explored in the 1960s. The distinct landscapes in her work disappeared, leaving figures and objects floating on an ambiguous ground. Pregnant Bride of 1984 is an example of this kind of work, described by Eve Johnson in 1985: "Her white veil and black body, the line of dogs', pigs' or perhaps demons' heads along the far edge of the painting, and the bride's curiously suspended movement combine to create an effect that is simultaneously humorous and unsettling." More recently, in the 1990s, Schmidt has been working in xerography, using photocopiers to make new images out of collages made from found images and household junk. Her distorted figures and their often unwelcoming environments have been interpreted by Robin Laurence as expressing "a condition of loneliness, of emotional and cultural disruption [evoking] a crisis that is both existential and particular" (1984). Considering that Schmidt lost her entire family in the Second World War and spent several years afterward living in displaced persons camps, this interpretation may not be without basis, and might even apply to the strange crowds of goblins used in her earlier prints, as they suggest a sense of cruelty and alienation. Schmidt won first prize in 1965 at the annual Calgary Graphics Exhibition, also winning at the Burnaby National Print Show the same year, and the Sterling Award in 1966 at the annual exhibition of the Society of Canadian Painters, Etchers and Engravers. In 1967, she was one of six Canadians chosen to show at the International Exhibition of Prints and Engravings in Ljubljana, Yugoslavia.

 

SOLO EXHIBITIONS

1985 Marianna Schmidt
Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1984 Bau-Xi Gallery, Toronto, Ontario; Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1983 Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1982 Paintings
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1980 Prints and Drawings
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Drawings
University of  British Columbia Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1978 Retrospective
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1970 Douglas Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1969 Museo de Bellas Artes, Caracas, Venezuela

Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Lima, Peru

 

1968 New Design Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1965 University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, Manitoba

 

GROUP EXHIBITIONS

1984 The Longstaffe Collection
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

100 Years of Printing in British Columbia
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

The Warehouse Show
Vancouver, British Columbia

Drawings
The Pitt Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Contemporary West Coast Art
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta

 

1983 Growing Years
Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design, Vancouver, British Columbia

The October Show
Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1980 Bau-Xi Gallery Anniversary Exhibition
Bau-Xi Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

5 Women Artists
Simon Friseur University, Burnaby, British Columbia

 

1979 13th Biennale
Ljubjana, Yugoslavia

B.C. Credit Union Exhibition
Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1978 Women in Art
Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1975 10th International Print Show
Tokyo, Japan

 

1970 3rd International Print Show
Cracow, Poland

New Trends in Graphics
Brno, Czech Republic

 

1969 5th Burnaby Print Show
Burnaby Art Gallery, Burnaby, British Columbia

II International Minibiennial Print Show
Stockholm, Sweden

Contemporary Canadian Prints and Drawings (travelling)
Australia

Ist Biennial Print Show
Buenos Aires, Argentina

Ist British International Biennial
Bradford, England

 

1968 The 11th Annual Show
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Younger Vancouver Sculptors
The Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia

Spectrum '68
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Younger Vancouver Cross Section 68
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia

Directions in Western Canadian Printmaking
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

Northwest Printmakers, 39th International Exhibition
Seattle, Washington

 

1967 Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers 51st Exhibition
Toronto, Ontario

Western Print Makers Travelling Exhibition
Fine Arts Gallery, University of  British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

Canadian Print Makers Exhibition
Expo '67, Montréal, Québec

Joy and Celebration
Fine Arts Gallery, University of  British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

53rd Annual Exhibition of North West Artists
Seattle, Washington

International Exhibition of Prints and Engravings
Ljubljana, Yugoslavia

Eleven Canadian Printmakers
Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire (travelling)

 

1966 Society of Canadian Painter-Etchers and Engravers 50th Exhibition
Toronto, Ontario

Annual Exhibition of  B.C. Artists
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

Prints and Plastic Combines
The New Design Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia

52nd Annual Exhibition of  North West Artists
Seattle, Washington

International Exhibition of Prints and Drawings
Lugano, Switzerland

Northwest Printmakers 37th International Exhibition
Seattle, Washington

 

1965 36th International Print Show
Seattle, Washington

Canadian Watercolours and Prints
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario

Beyond Regionalism
Fine Arts Gallery, University of  British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia

 

1964 Alberta College of Art and Design
Calgary, Alberta




COLLECTIONS

Alberta College of Art and Design, Calgary, Alberta
Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, Victoria, British Columbia
Canada Council Art Bank, Ottawa, Ontario
Canada Offices of Parliament, Ottawa, Ontario
Concordia University, Montréal, Québec
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Nova Scotia
Edmonton Art Gallery, Edmonton, Alberta
Ministry of External Affairs, Ottawa, Ontario
Mount Allison University, Sackville, New Brunswick
Museum of Contemporary Art, Lima, Peru
Museum of Fine Arts, Caracas, Venezuela
Museum of Modern Art, New York, New York
National Gallery of Australia, Adelaide, Australia
National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa, Ontario
Regina Public Art Gallery, Regina, Saskatchewan
Seattle Art Museum, Seattle, Washington
Vancouver Art Gallery, Vancouver, British Columbia
Winnipeg Art Gallery, Winnipeg, Manitoba

 



BIBLIOGRAPHY

Balkind, Alvin. Joy and Celebration. Vancouver, British Columbia: Fine Arts Gallery, University of British Columbia, 1967.

British Columbia Art Collection, 1974-1980.
Victoria, British Columbia: Province of British Columbia, Ministry of Provincial Secretary and Government Services, Cultural Services Branch, 1981.

Carter, Sam, Leita Richardson, and Maurice Yacowar. 64-94: Contemporary Decades. Vancouver, British Columbia: The Charles H. Scott Gallery, 1994.

Direction des affaires culturelle, Ministère des affaires extérieures du Canada, Dialogue. Ottawa, Ontario: Ministère des affaires extérieures du Canada, 1976.

Farrell-Ward, Lorna, and Ron Longstaffe. Selected View: The Longstaffe Collection, 1959-1984. Vancouver, British Columbia: Vancouver Art Gallery, 1985.

Harris, Steve, David McWilliam, and Russell Keziere. Vancouver, British Columbia: Contemporary Art Gallery, 1983.

Kelly, Sue, Lisa Langford, and Francesca Lund. Artopolis 93: Public Art about Public Issues. Vancouver, British Columbia: A.T. Eight Artopolis Society, 1993.

Laurence, Robin. "Marianna Schmidt." Vanguard (February 1984): 44.

Lindberg, Theodore E. Marianna Schmidt. Vancouver, British Columbia: The Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, 1985.

---, Daina Augaitis, and Elsa Schamis. Vancouver School of Art: The Growth Years, 1939-1965. Vancouver, British Columbia: The Charles H. Scott Gallery, Emily Carr College of Art and Design, 1983.

Lord, Barry. Eleven Canadian Printmakers. Hanover, New Hampshire: Hopkins Center Art Galleries, Dartmouth College, 1967.

McPerson, Hugo. 3rd National Burnaby Print Show. Burnaby, British Columbia: The Burnaby Art Society, 1966.

Ninth Burnaby Biennial Print Show. Burnaby, British Columbia: Burnaby Art Gallery, 1977.

Smith, Gordon, and Maurice Tuchman. 4th National Burnaby Print Show. Burnaby, British Columbia: Burnaby Art Gallery, 1967.

Summerskill, Paul K. The 8th Burnaby Biennial, Open Juried Show of Edition Art. Burnaby,  British Columbia: Burnaby Art Gallery, 1975.

Tuele, Nicholas, Leslie Dawn, and Greg Bellerby. Printmaking in British Columbia, 1889-1983. Victoria, British Columbia: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria, 1983.

Varney, Ed, Joyce Woods, and Irene Dual Chan. Warehouse Show: Local Contemporary Art. Vancouver, British Columbia: Warehouse Show, 1985.

 

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