Dreams

Künstler*in Helene Funke (1869 Chemnitz – 1957 Wien)

Object typePainting
MediumOil on canvas
Dimensions
114,5 × 134,5 cm
SignatureSign. und dat. links unten: Funke 1913
Inventory number6221
Locations Belvedere, Upper Belvedere, 1. Floor (east), Room SO4
Helene Funke is one of the most important rediscovered women artists from Viennese modernism. After training in Munich, she spent several years in France before returning to Vienna in 1911. That same year she painted Dreams. A group of women, in relaxed poses, have congregated around a round table. Each woman seems preoccupied with her own thoughts. They could be friends or fellow artists. One has fallen asleep with her head resting on the table, while opposite a seated figure in green gazes pensively into the distance. The rhythmic arrangement of these eight characters’ faces and bodies was new at the time, and imbues the image with movement.

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