Born in 1919 she started to scribble her first artworks at a very young age. Once her mother even seeked the help of a fortune teller because her little girl was holding her hands in such a crooked way while drawing, that she looked like a fool. Although her mother was told to support her daughter, her only thought was to get her married to a decent man to keep her out of harm’s way.

But Life had different plans for her. As a young woman she decided to make a living out of painting. Between 1941 and 1943 Maria Lassnig studied at the academy of fine arts in Vienna. Later on she lived in Paris and New York. While living in the United States she started making animated films because her paintings were not understood. In the year 1980 she accepted a teaching position at the University for applied arts in Vienna. She was the first female professor for Painting at an academy in the German speaking world. Between 1982 and 1997 her works were shown at the documenta in Kassel. In the year 1988 she receives the Austrian State Art Prize and in 2004 she was awarded with the Max-Beckmann prize of the city of Frankfurt.