Marie-Louise von Motesiczky

Marie-Louise von Motesiczky (October 24, 1906 – June 10, 1996) was an Austrian painter.

She was born in Vienna in 1906 to an family. Her father Edmund von Motesiczky was a talented cellist and keen huntsman. Her mother Henriette von Lieben, came from one of the most wealthy and cultured families in the Habsburg Empire. They had donated many of the art-works in the Kunsthistorisches Museum, and, in their palatial salon opposite the opera, Hugo von Hofmannsthal had read his first poems. Their own art-collection at the family's country estate in Hinterbrühl was formidable. After leaving school aged only 13, Marie attended art schools in various locations around Europe including Vienna, Paris (at the Montparnasse Painting Academy) and Berlin. In 1928, Max Beckmann invited her to join his masterclass at the Städelschule in Frankfurt am Main, where she honed her craft and the two became lifelong friends. Motesiczky spent the next 10 years developing her craft but, as her family included Jewish descent, she had to flee the Nazi annexation of Vienna in 1938.

Motesiczky, accompanied by her mother Henriette, fled to London via Amsterdam where she joined the Artists' International Association and contributed to some of their exhibitions; her first solo exhibition followed in London in 1944. Her brother, who stayed behind, was killed by the Nazis for opposing the regime. During this period she also became romantically involved with the writer Elias Canetti, who was to remain a close companion and friend for many years to come. The second great influence on her work after Max Beckmann was Oskar Kokoschka. Her large circle of friends also included the sculptor Marie Duras, the art historian Sir Ernst Gombrich and the artist Milein Cosmann.

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