Lotte Profohs - Lithograph, Title, On the park bench

Lotte Profohs was an Austrian artist. She was born on November 16, 1934, as Lieselotte Cäcilie Profohs in Vienna, Austria. From 1949, at the age of 15, Profohs studied at the Academy of Applied Arts, where she also met her future husband, Helmut Leherbauer (Maître) Leherb. She always described herself as an expressionist with feminist traits. Profohs enjoyed international recognition as a printmaker and painter as early as the 1950s; her works were acquired by renowned museums such as the Louvre in Paris in 1958. Respect for her as a woman, as well as recognition for her work, were very important to her. Profohs created countless works, most of which have a socially critical background and are executed in black and white. Profohs concerned herself with people on the margins of society and with feminist themes, which became particularly prominent after a meeting with Simone de Beauvoir.