Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1935-1986 (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
4 folders, 1 item.
Context area
Name of creator
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.
Name of creator
Biographical history
Archival history
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
There is material associated with or acquired during the finalising of the estate of Gertrude Langer, which John Riedel assisted with. It includes a diary, correspondence relating to the Langer's, eulogies and notes about Gertrude Langer, a copy of her will, newspaper cuttings, and photographs.
Box 1
Item 1
1939 diary belonging to Gertrude Langer. Handwritten notes begin from July 21. July 27 is the day the Langer's arrived in Brisbane.
Folder 1
There are thirty six colour photographs which include photographs of: Gertrude Langer on holidays, the memorial seat and Rhyl Hinwood sculpture of Gertrude Langer (1986), Ute Heinen who wrote his thesis on Gertrude Langer; and photographs taken by John Riedel when he went to the Langer house after the death of Gertrude (1984). There are twenty black and white photographs of Karl and Gertrude Langer. Many of the photographs are undated. Some dates from 1935 to 1959.
Folders 2-3
Tributes etc from people and organisations, Langer Memorial Committee papers and correspondence, eulogies, newspaper cuttings, copy of will,
Folder 4
Notes made by John Riedel when he sorted through the Langer house at St.Lucia in 1984. 37 leaves. Includes 12 photographs.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Unrestricted access.
Conditions governing reproduction
Copyright varies
Language of material
- English
- 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
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- Langer, Gertrude, 1908-1984 (Subject)
- Langer, Karl, 1903-1969 (Subject)
- Langer Memorial Committee (Subject)