Collection UQFL157 - Gertrude Langer Papers

Identity area

Reference code

UQFL157

Title

Gertrude Langer Papers

Date(s)

  • ca. 1890-1984 (Creation)

Level of description

Collection

Extent and medium

74 boxes, 5 parcels, 17 albums, 1 oversize folder

Context area

Name of creator

(1908-1984)

Biographical history

Gertrude Langer (nee Fröschel, until the late 1920s also Freschl) was born on 1 July 1908 in Vienna, the daughter of Alois Freschl and Channa / Anna Fröschel, neé Brill. Her father was manager of Leo Brill & Co., his brother-in-law’s company of garment manufacturers.
From 1926 Gertrude studied Art History at Vienna University, being taught by Professor Josef Strzygowski. In 1928 she also attended lectures by Henri Focillon at the Sorbonne in Paris. In 1933 she graduated Doctor of Philosophy in Art History.
In 1932 she had married fellow student Karl Langer. Following the annexation of Austria by Germany in 1938 the Langers migrated to Australia via Greece. They arrived in Sydney in May 1939 and came to Brisbane in July 1939. Karl Langer commenced work for architects Cook and Kerrison. The Langers became Australian citizens in 1946.
Soon after arriving in Brisbane Gertrude Langer established herself as a private art history lecturer and critic, giving lectures in her own home from 1940 and later at libraries, clubs and societies. She was the Courier Mail’s art critic from 1953 until her death in 1984. The Langers were members of the Queensland Art Gallery Society and the Australian Council for the Arts, organisations in which they filled key roles over many years. Gertrude Langer also conducted Creative Arts vacation schools at the University of Queensland from 1962 to 1977. She was a foundation member of the International Association of Art Critics and was President of the association's Australian division from 1975 to 1978. Through her work with the Gallery Society and her personal donations of artworks, she exerted her influence on the collection of the Queensland Art Gallery.
Gertrude Langer died on 19 September 1984, after having been widowed 15 years earlier. She had been made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire on 1 January 1968 for services to the Arts.

Archival history

Collection previously titled as: Papers, 1920-1984.
Collection alternatively titled as: Gertrude Langer Collection.

Immediate source of acquisition or transfer

Estate of Gertrude Langer

Content and structure area

Scope and content

The personal papers of Gertrude Langer (1908 – 1984) include diaries, correspondence, photographs, manuscripts and typescripts, notebooks and ephemera, including exhibition catalogues. The papers cover the period 1917 – 1984 including correspondence received between 1918 and 1984. The material from before 1938 includes papers relating to her Art History studies in Vienna and Paris as well as photographs taken during her travels in Europe. From 1929 onwards the papers include correspondence to and from her future husband Karl Langer (married in 1932), as well as photographs of their travels together. Correspondence and records from 1938 and early 1939 document the Langers’ escape from German-annexed Austria. Material after 1939 documents Gertrude Langer’s activities as a private art history educator and as an art critic in Brisbane. This material includes her lecture notes, lists of students attending the classes, printed ephemera, manuscripts and typescripts of her art reviews for the Courier Mail newspaper, as well as annotated exhibition catalogues. The papers also contain Arts Council of Australia and Queensland Art Gallery Society records, as well as material created by her husband Karl Langer. This includes correspondence received by him between 1922 and 1969, staff cards from his architectural firm (1950s), ephemera as well as sketch plans and architectural drawings for the Langers’ residence in St Lucia (1950).

Appraisal, destruction and scheduling

Accruals

System of arrangement

Arranged into 25 series.

Conditions of access and use area

Conditions governing access

Unrestricted access

Conditions governing reproduction

In copyright. Contact the Fryer Library. Can be reproduced for personal research and study. For other uses see About copyright. Please attribute the Fryer Library.

Language of material

  • English
  • French
  • German

Script of material

Language and script notes

Physical characteristics and technical requirements

Finding aids

Allied materials area

Existence and location of originals

Existence and location of copies

Related units of description

Related papers held in UQFL158 Karl Langer Papers

Related descriptions

Publication note

Material from this collection has been cited in:

Forbes, C and Naylor, S (2022) 'Taking Northern Queensland into account : another view of Australian art' Limina 27 (2), pp. 62-85.

Knudsen, S and Fairweather, I. (2016) 'The Drunken Buddha' [online]. Eyeline, Vol. 84, pp. 24-29.

Notes area

Note

Boxes 1 - 71, Albums 1 - 17, Parcels 1 - 3, Oversize folder 1

Alternative identifier(s)

Alma MMS ID

991005048259703131

Alma Local System Number

(AuBrU)b20520967-61uq_inst

Millennium Local System Number

b20520967

Libraries Australia ID

63015156; 23255271

OCLC Number

1058689368; 223147909

Access points

Place access points

Name access points

Genre access points

Description control area

Description identifier

Institution identifier

Rules and/or conventions used

Status

Revised

Level of detail

Full

Dates of creation revision deletion

Revised, BS, 23-Nov-2021. Revised, JH, 7-Jan-2020. Migrated from LMS: April 2019, P.A.

Language(s)

Script(s)

Sources

Accession area

Related people and organizations

Related genres

Related places

Physical storage

  • Box: UQFL157 Box 1
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 2
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 3
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 4
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 5
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 6
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 7
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 8
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 9
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 10
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 11
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 12
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 13
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 14
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 15
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 16
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 17
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 18
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 19
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 20
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 21
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 22
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 23
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 24
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 25
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 26
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 27
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 28
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 29
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 30
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 31
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 32
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 33
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 34
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 35
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 36
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 37
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 38
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 39
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 40
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 41
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 42
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 43
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 44
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 45
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 46
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 47
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 48
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 49
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 50
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 51
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 52
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 53
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 54
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 55
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 56
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 57
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 58
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 59
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 60
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 61
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 62
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 63
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 64
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 65
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 66
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 67
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 68
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 69
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 70
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 71
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 1
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 2
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 3
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 4
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 5
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 6
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 7
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 8
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 9
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 10
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 11
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 12
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 13
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 14
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 15
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 16
  • Album: UQFL157 Album 17
  • Parcel: UQFL157 Parcel 1
  • Parcel: UQFL157 Parcel 2
  • Parcel: UQFL157 Parcel 3
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 72
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 73
  • Box: UQFL157 Box 74
  • Parcel: UQFL157, Parcel 4
  • Parcel: UQFL157, Parcel 5
  • Oversize folder: UQFL157 Oversize folder 1