Published: May 31, 2025; Aithor: Julia Sonrisa
Address: 11 East 52nd Street, New York, NY 10022, United States
Phone: +1 212-319-5300
Web: https://acfny.org/The Austrian Cultural Forum New York is pleased to present the 10th edition of its ongoing A®Talk series, which delves into the intersections of art, research, and social inquiry. This edition will explore how pioneering female photographers of the early 20th century captured and redefined the experience of childhood during a period of profound cultural and political transformation.
At the center of the conversation is Trude Fleischmann (1895–1990), a trailblazing Viennese photographer whose portraits and documentary works reveal an unusually sensitive and progressive approach to children as subjects. Her images resist sentimentality, instead emphasizing the agency, individuality, and emotional complexity of youth. Fleischmann’s work offers a compelling visual counterpoint to the more didactic or idealized representations of childhood that dominated her era. This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Famous & Family. Through the Lens of Trude Fleischmann at the Fairfield University Art Museum, Bellarmine Hall Galleries, in Fairfield, Connecticut, on view through July 26, 2025.
In addition to Fleischmann, the panel will spotlight the contributions of several other groundbreaking women photographers, including Edith Tudor-Hart (AT), Dora Horovitz (AT), Hedda Walther Aenne Biermann, Toni Frissell, and Helen Levitt. Active in Austria, Germany, Britain, and the United States, these artists captured children across social classes, geographies, and emotional states — expanding the visual vocabulary of childhood to encompass a sense of curiosity, independence, resilience, and joy.
The evening will feature a presentation by Dr. Elizabeth Cronin, Robert B. Menschel Curator of Photography at The New York Public Library. A discussion moderated by Dr. Stephanie Buhmann, Head of Visual Arts, Architecture, and Design at the ACFNY, will examine the cultural, political, and aesthetic frameworks within which these photographers worked, framing the evening. The event will conclude with an open Q&A session, inviting audience participation. A reception will follow.
Time: 5:30 pm EST
Free!
Detailed information and discussion of the event.