For a long time it was Nelly Marmorek’s fate that she was only known as the wife of the successful architect and committed Zionist Oskar Marmorek and as the daughter of the well-known banker Julius Schwarz. But even the few works of her that have survived show that she should be honored as an independent creative personality.

Nelly Marmorek was born Cornelia Schwarz on May 13, 1877 in Vienna and came from a very wealthy family of bankers on her father’s side. Apparently her mother, who was a sister of the well-known and successful composer Ignaz Brüll, brought in her musical talent. Nelly, as she was called, soon showed a talent for drawing and – supported by her art-loving family home, in which composers such as Gustav Mahler and Johannes Brahms and writers such as Arthur Schnitzler and Hugo von Hofmannsthal frequented – sought an artistic education.

In 1901 she began studying at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, where she was a student of Alfred Roller and Carl Otto Czeschka, among others. Her fellow students included Hilde Exner, Emma Schlangenhausen, Moriz Jung and Rudolf Kalvach. The fact that there is an original woodcut of hers in “Ver sacrum” and that she was able to publish four works in the portfolio “Die Fläche” shows that Marmorek was counted among the best of her year by her teachers.

A photograph from the Roller class has been preserved in the archive of the University of Applied Arts in Vienna, in which both of the poster designs by Nelly Marmorek depicted in “Die Fläche” can be seen. The picture, which most likely shows the artist herself at work, also documents that the poster designs were not just small sketches, but were worked out in the original size.

After Oskar Marmorek, to whom she had been married since 1897, committed suicide in 1909, Nelly Marmorek moved back to her parents’ apartment at Berggasse 13, where she was officially registered until 1928. However, she spent most of her time in France, where she studied painting with Henri Matisse and also took part in exhibitions.

Nelly Marmorek lived in Cannes during World War II. In 1942, southern France was occupied by German troops and now the Jews living here or who had fled here, like Nelly Marmorek, were exposed to the terror of the National Socialist rulers. Marmorek was no longer able to travel to the USA, and she died in Cannes on March 11, 1944.

After basic research, Ingrid Erb wrote in her study of Nelly Marmorek: “Nelly’s death certificate states the address Villa Baron, Avenue Isola Bella, Cannes. A cause of death is not noted. The Villa Baron was confiscated by the German troops during World War II and used by the Nazi occupying power as a headquarters. On March 14, 1944, Nelly Marmorek was buried in the Cimetière Le Grand Jas as a native on common ground with a five-year concession.”

quoted from: Austrian Posters / Nelly Marmorek