Martha Jungwirth: Heart of Darkness

Controlled compositions filled with energetic brushstrokes evoke the violent, primal urges realized in Conrad's classic novel

Published with Fondazione Giorgio Cini.

In her most recent set of paintings, Austrian artist Martha Jungwirth (born 1940) takes as her inspiration Joseph Conrad's 1899 novella Heart of Darkness, a harrowing examination of European colonialism. Her forceful yet restrained compositions evoke both the brutality of bygone empires and the struggle of contemporary migrants.