Christa Hauer
Artist. Gallery Owner. Activist
12.04.2025-01.03.2026
Christa Hauer (1925–2013) was always in tune with the times. There was a special radiance to her dedication as a gallery owner and patron of the arts. In honor of her 100th birthday, the State Gallery of Lower Austria is dedicating an exhibition to her wide-ranging achievements.
Gallery Above the Griechenbeisl: A Venue for the Avant-Garde
Austrian artist and sculptor Christa Hauer spent most of the 1950s in America. In 1959, she returned to Vienna brimming with enthusiasm and opened a gallery with her husband, the painter Johann Fruhmann. Her father Leopold Hauer made the empty rooms above the historic Griechenbeisl restaurant in Vienna’s first district available to the young couple.
Hauer quickly developed the gallery into a central forum for contemporary art alongside two already established galleries Würthle and nächst St. Stephan. She thus asserted herself as a gallery owner in an art world dominated by men. In particular, Conceptual and Constructivist artists were offered a platform for presenting their work.
Established artists celebrated their premieres at the gallery above the Griechenbeisl, such as Christian Ludwig Attersee, Maria Lassnig, and Martha Jungwirth. Also presented was art created on the other side of the Iron Curtain in order to promote exchange between East and West. Over ten years, Hauer presented 122 exhibitions.
Schloss Lengenfeld: A Cultural Hotspot
After the gallery above the Griechenbeisl closed in 1971, Hauer and her husband purchased Schloss Lengenfeld near Krems to live and work there. With exhibitions, theater performances, concerts, festivals and symposia, it became a lively meeting place for art and culture enthusiasts. In addition, it was also a center for innovative local conservation, environmental protection, and civic participation. Hauer’s initiatives in Lengenfeld contributed significantly to the cultural awakening in Lower Austria.
Pioneer of Feminist Art
From the 1970s on, Hauer was involved in the feminist art scene, including as a founding member and first chairwoman of the Internationalen Aktionsgemeinschaft bildender Künstlerinnen (IntAkt), an international association of women artists. Her commitment to the visibility and recognition of female artists was visionary and of great importance. Other members of the group included Renate Bertlmann, Ingrid Oppitz, and Linda Christanell.
Life and Legacy
Christa Hauer grew up in an art-loving family. Her father Leopold Hauer was a painter. Her grandfather Franz Hauer was the landlord of the Griechenbeisl, above which she opened her gallery. At the turn of the century, he was already promoting and collecting artists such as Albin Egger-Lienz, Egon Schiele, and Oskar Kokoschka.
Hauer and her husband built up a considerable art collection of their own works and works by artists they exhibited and promoted. Hauer donated a significant part of the collection to the State Collections of Lower Austria, which expanded it through additional acquisitions to a total of around 1,600 works from the Hauer-Fruhmann family estate.
Drawing from these holdings, the exhibition at the State Gallery presents works by renowned artists such as Martha Jungwirth, Richard Kriesche, Jürgen Messensee, Margot Pilz, and Karl Prantl. The success story of the gallery above the Griechenbeisl and at Schloss Lengenfeld is illustrated with works of art, archive material, catalogues, posters, exhibition reviews, and photos. A small selection of abstract paintings by Christa Hauer round out the show, which offers a glimpse into the eventful life of an artist, gallery owner, and activist.
Curator: Alexandra Schantl