Martha was born into a musical family where she began life as a folk violinist. She went on to marry a fellow musician, who then took her daughter away from her on their separation. She didn’t begin to create art until the age of 71, after being reunited with her daughter. Martha had worked in later life on a farm where her employers had been so strict that she had not even been allowed to touch her violin. She began using her grandchildren’s crayons and coloured pencils and working on the back of postcards or the reverse side of her daughter’s political posters.  Martha drew images of an ideal world full of colours and shapes; where delicate female faces peer out from within dense patterns.

Here are some examples of her work:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Martha Grunenwaldt’s work can be seen at:

abcd Collection, Paris

L’Arcine Collection, Musee d’Art Moderne, Lille Metropole

Art en Marge Collection, Brussels

Eternod/Mermod Collection, Lausanne

Musee de la Creation Franche, Begles

References:

Raw Vision Outsider Art Sourcebook, 2009