Anna Mahler by Marina Mahler and Michele Drascek

This presentation provides an historical perspective on the work and life of Anna Mahler (June 15, 1904 Vienna, Austria – June 3, 1988 Hampstead, London), the second child of composer Gustav Mahler and his wife, Alma Schindler.

The 120th anniversary of Anna Mahler’s birth in 2024 marked the beginning of the study and archiving process for her papers and photographs, as well as the first public exhibition of a selection of the archive at Gustav Mahler Komponierhäuschen in Maiernigg, Austria. In 2025, a lecture on Anna Mahler’s work, the archiving process, and new findings was given at the CAA (College Art Association) 113th Annual Conference in New York.

The presentation will feature a portion of her photographic documentation, which is mostly unpublished and includes key moments from her public career as well as some of her private life, such as working on her sketches or sculptures in her studios in Vienna, London, Los Angeles and Spoleto, Italy.

Marina Mahler, is the granddaughter of Gustav and Alma Mahler and daughter of sculptor, Anna Mahler and conductor Anatole Fistoulari. In 2004, together with Ernest Fleischmann, Executive Director of the Los Angeles Philharmonic, and the Bamberger Symphoniker in Germany, she created and launched the Mahler Conducting Competition. In 2010, Marina founded in Spoleto the Anna Mahler Society, which in turn gave birth to the parallel Mahler-Lewitt Studios international artist residencies. In the US, in 2014, Marina founded the Mahler Foundation, with the intent to harness the transformative power of art, to take Mahler beyond cultural and geographic venues and borders by fostering emerging talent, encouraging community, reflecting the Universal idea that art can create light, hope and positive action. Marina Mahler in her concern about the degradation of nature and the social pact between peoples has created the concept The Song of the Earth/Songs of the Earth to sound a far-reaching call to action. This concept began in 1992 working together with Jill Segal and thinking together with Jörn Weisbrodt. In December 2021, Marina was awarded the Freedom of the City Medal by the City of Marseilles, France. In the summer of 2024, she was awarded the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and the Arts at the Mahler Forum for Music and Society in Klagenfurt.

Michele Drascek is a curator. His interest includes research and classifying archives, nurture researches in the field of Art History, activating projects such as publishing and collaborations with museums and collections. Curator and Archivist for The Estate of Anna Mahler, he is currently gathering and organising the Anna Mahler Archive, which was presented for the first time in 2024 at Gustav Mahler Komponierhäuschen in Maiernigg, Austria.

The Anna Mahler Estate is represented by Stephenson art, London
contact@stephenson.art

The Curator and Archivist for The Estate of Anna Mahler is Michele Drascek
micheledrascek@gmail.com