Valie Export (1940 - 2026) - Smart Export

Valie Export (1940–2026), Smart Export - Photographic Art in Austria, 2013.

Color lithograph and stamp on light cardboard in postcard format, 14.6 x 10.5 cm, as well as stamp 4.2 x 3.4 cm. Hand-signed. This is a first-day cover, which, due to the signature, becomes a total work of art.

Provenance: Private collection, Berlin.

Condition: Very good condition. The illustrations are part of the condition description.

VALIE EXPORT (1940–2026) was one of the most radical and influential artists of the international feminist avant-garde. The Austrian media-, performance-, and conceptual artist, born in Linz, made the female body the battleground of societal power relations and fundamentally questioned the male-dominated gaze on sexuality, identity, and corporeality. With pioneering works such as Tapp und Tastkino (1968) and Aktionshose: Genitalpanik (1969), she made art history.

In 1967, born Waltraud Lehner, she shed her civilian name and, under the name VALIE EXPORT, consistently written in uppercase, declared herself an independent artistic brand. Her multifaceted oeuvre spans performance art, photography, experimental film, video, installation, sculpture, and theoretical writings. Through her uncompromising engagement with patriarchal structures, media portrayals of women, and society’s control of the body, VALIE EXPORT has shaped generations of artists. Today her works are part of major international museum collections, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York, Tate Modern in London, and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. VALIE EXPORT died on May 14, 2026 in Vienna, leaving behind one of the most significant feminist Gesamtkunstwerke in post-1945 art.