Erika Giovanna Klien

Erika Giovanna Klien (12 April 1900 – 19 July 1957) was an artist and art educator.

Career Erika Giovanna Klien was born on 12 April 1900, in Borgo Valsugana, Austria-Hungary. She began her studies at the Vienna School of Applied Arts, also known as Kunstgewerbeschule Wien in Vienna, Austria in 1919 and graduated in 1925. A student of Dr. Franz Cižek, Klien became one of his teaching assistants. In Cižek's course, "Theory of Ornamental Form", Klien was introduced to a new style known as Viennese Kineticism – a style that emphasized movement and modern vitality, in a way similar to French Cubism, Italian Futurism and Russian Constructivism. After learning about the technique and theories of Kinetism, Klien became one of its leading exponents.

In 1928 Klien had a son, whom she kept secret from her family. In 1929 Klien sailed for the United States, bringing with her hopes for an artistic career and the reform theories of children's art education she had acquired in Vienna. 1975: Galerie Pabst, Vienna 1986: Retrospective at Gallery Pabst, Munich 1987: Museum des XX. Jahrhunderts (Museum of the 20th Century), Vienna (250 works) 1989: Rachel Adler Gallery, New York 2001: Bolzano 2006: Société Anonyme at the Hammer, reviewed in The Aesthetic Permanently: Phillips Collection Art Museum in Washington, D.C.