Edita Schubert
Chanel + Moulinex
Artist
Edita Schubert
(1947, Virovitica - 2001, Zagreb), Croatian
Original Title
Chanel + Moulinex
Date1974
Mediumacrylic on canvas
Dimensions92 × 120 cm
Classificationspaintings
Credit LineKunsthalle Praha
DescriptionEdita Schubert was a Croatian artist whose work is linked to various movements of the Croatian and international art scenes of the second half of the 20th century. Her early works, created in the first half of the 1970s, reference consumer items, thus evoking pop art aesthetics despite capitalist consumer society being virtually non-existent in the geographical region. These references can therefore be understood as an expression of enchantment with consumerism from a position within a socialist state apparatus rooted in vastly different social principles. In this context, Schubert’s representational, pop art-inspired paintings represent an alternative to the local, officially promoted realistic painting styles. Schubert later began to work with photography and installations, exploring the magical tension of humble materials such as leaves, fabrics, and sand, which she combined with painted surfaces. She returned to a focus on painting in the 1980s, creating a series of black canvases based on expressive, organic forms and opulent structures. In the late 1980s, she explored abstract geometric painting in the vein of Neo-Geo, which can be linked to the Nova Slika movement, a local incarnation of the international transavantgarde. Schubert aimed to combine her individual reality with a broader context and began working with large installations through which she examined questions of identity and her own biography. She also experimented with the possibilities and limitations of painting, testing its potential to be expanded toward installations and conceptual projects.
Schubert created this painting of two lipstick tubes, titled Chanel + Moulinex (1974), during the mid-1970s, when portrayals of the human body were making way for an interest in depicting personal items. The formal execution of the painting evokes photorealism, a popular style at the time, despite the piece not being created based on a photograph or a projected image—instead, the scene was translated to the canvas from a pastel sketch. The lipsticks and brands evoke an enchantment with consumerism and pop art aesthetics, while the portrayal of feminine objects symbolizes an engagement with individual subjectivity and personal identity.
Edita Schubert (1947, Virovitica – 2001, Zagreb) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where she studied in Mijenko Sančić’s studio. She went on to work as a sketcher at the Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zagreb. She received awards at the 10th and 12th Youth Salons (1978, 1980). In 1982, her work was shown at the Venice and Sydney Biennales. In 2000, Schubert was awarded the Vjestnik Award for Artistic Achievements.
Schubert created this painting of two lipstick tubes, titled Chanel + Moulinex (1974), during the mid-1970s, when portrayals of the human body were making way for an interest in depicting personal items. The formal execution of the painting evokes photorealism, a popular style at the time, despite the piece not being created based on a photograph or a projected image—instead, the scene was translated to the canvas from a pastel sketch. The lipsticks and brands evoke an enchantment with consumerism and pop art aesthetics, while the portrayal of feminine objects symbolizes an engagement with individual subjectivity and personal identity.
Edita Schubert (1947, Virovitica – 2001, Zagreb) graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Zagreb, where she studied in Mijenko Sančić’s studio. She went on to work as a sketcher at the Department of Anatomy and Clinical Anatomy in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Zagreb. She received awards at the 10th and 12th Youth Salons (1978, 1980). In 1982, her work was shown at the Venice and Sydney Biennales. In 2000, Schubert was awarded the Vjestnik Award for Artistic Achievements.
