A pályakezdő rajztanár és képzőművész. Marlin Molly (Szászsebes, 1865–Bayrischzell, 1954)
Early Career as Art Teacher and Artist. Marlin Molly (Mülbach, 1865-Bayrischzell, 1954)

Summary/Abstract: Marlin Molly is regarded by Gudrun-Liane Ittu, a researcher of Transylvanian Saxon art history, as one of the most important female artists of the 20th century. The biographical data of the six artists studied by Ittu are comparable, but they also raise questions and call for reflection on the Hungarian schools of painting, the institutionalisation of artistic education, the formation of women artists, their professional and, in this case, their ethnic identity. Molly Marlin, who studied in Budapest with the support of the scholar Samuel Brassai, and in 1895 became member of the teaching staff of the Royal High School for Girls in Košice, continued her artistic activity, and was present at the exhibitions of the Hungarian National Salon. After the First World War she settled in Munich, her Transylvanian connections fading. The school reports of the institution in Košice record her early career as art teacher. In addition to recording her presence in the teaching staff, these documents also help us to examine her role as a teacher, as an artist, her self-perception, and in general, the aspects of women’s education. These resources also contextualise that activity of Marlin’s which made her more visible in the Hungarian culture at the turn of the century. The present study examines from the perspective of Molly Marlin’s biography the professional dilemmas and occupational possibilities of women artists at the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century.

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