Marija Auersperg Attems (1816–1880) was a painter. A good painter. Art academies were men-only in her time, so she had to find other ways to get the desired knowledge and skills. Surprisingly little is known of her, although she was daughter of a powerful politician and wife of a well-known poet. Upper-class women were expected to live a hidden life 150 years ago. In public galleries in Slovenia only eight paintings of her are kept. We studied them carefuly using multidisciplinary approach. Art-historians, horticulturalists, botanists, landscape architects, architects, historians and cultural heritage specialists put their pieces of knowledge together and created a logical context for understanding the creative legacy of Marija Auersperg Attems. Her painting and her husband’s poetry are an important part of common culture and history of today’s Slovenia and Austria. They cannot be understood in their complexity in the narrow frames of today's national states.

She was a painter. A good painter. It was not easy for a woman to get education in art the first half of nineteenth century. Art academies were men-only. As she was born rich, she could afford private teachers to get the desired knowledge and skill. Her name was Marija Auersperg Attems (1816–1880). Surprisingly little is known of her, although she was daughter of a powerful politician and wife of a well-known poet. Life of upper-class women use to be a hidden life 150 years ago. There are many written sources of her husband’s and father’s life. Nobody wrote of her. From her son’s testament we know she painted many pictures. Only nine remained in Slovenian and Austrian public galleries. There are eight Marija Auersperg Attems’s paintings known in Slovenia. They have been analysed decades ago from the viewpoint of art-historians. They were considered a fairly well painted flower still lifes and not much more. There was a doubt that she painted real flowers, suggesting, that the painting may be copies of existing paintings and illustrations. Flower still lifes were, anyway, not considered an important category of visual art in nineteenth century; if they were painted by a woman, they seemed to be even less relevant. Two years ago, Arboretum Volčji Potok and Slovenian National Gallery undertook a common project. At this occasion, Marija Auersperg Attems’s paintings were analysed by botany and gardening experts of Arboretum Volčji Potok. They found out that paintings were painted with great precision and that details in some paintings are so accurate that it is not very probable they were copies. After determining flower taxa and rose cultivars, the garden plant experts stated they were very up-to-date with novelties and garden fashion in Europe in the middle of nineteenth century, in the years when Marija Auersperg Attems painted her pieces of art. The result of bringing art historians and horticulture expert together was the discovery that the lady painter must have had a strong interest in flower and especially roses. If she painted fashionable and new flowers and rose cultivar, it is hard to believe that she made copies of existing paintings of other artists. At least some paintings were painted with such a great precision, one may assume she got the flowers and roses from a garden. Had she taken care for gardens? Professionals from Arboretum Volčji Potok asked landscape architects, who work at Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia, for help. They made a small research and confirmed that she was involved in the design of gardens at castles in Šrajbarski turn and Dornava. The painter and her husband were more involved with the parks and gardens of Šrajbarski turn castle. Old photos confirmed the existence of at least two orangeries, which were a part of ornamental garden, attached to the castle. With this knowledge one can easily explain the presence of flowers, which cannot survive winters outside, as well as many annual flowers, which need early culture under glass, in her paintings. A consultation of a historian, who specialized in history of noble families on the grounds of today’s Slovenia, confirmed that Marija’s husband use to be very proud of roses grown in their garden and liked to show them to their guests. Is cannot be a coincidence that on all paintings of Marija Auersperg Attems, which are kept in Slovenia, at least one rose flower is depicted! She had planty of them in the garden. After her father’s death, Marija Auersperg Attems inherited the Dornava castle. Expert on garden heritage shared interpretation of a photograph album, whose pictures were taken when the lady painter and her husband were the lords of the property. There were many flower beds present in the castle’s gardens which were made in Biedermeier style, replacing older garden settings. The style is typical also for paintings created by Marija Auersperg Attems. Biedermeier was not an accidental poetics of the painter’s flower still lifes, it was only a facet of the much broader Auersperg-Attems’s lifestyle! The story which has been developed out of paintings of Marija Auersperg Attems is a wonderful one. It depicts charm of multidisciplinary research. Experts from different fields have put their pieces of knowledge together and a created more complex and logical context for understanding the creative legacy of Marija Auersperg Attems. When her paintings are not observed only from the perspective of art-historians, but also from horticulturalists, botanists, landscape architects, architects, historians and cultural heritage specialists points of view, it may bring new insights for all experts involved. The collected materials are also a treasure trove for many possible interpretation activities. Marija Auersperg Attems and her husband were a part of the high Austrian nobility. Nobility was a class, not a nationality. Their first language was German. Count Anton Alexander von Auersperg (1806–1876), Marija’s husband, was a well-known German poet with the pen name Anastasius Grün. He was fluent in also in regional Slavic language and masterly translated Slovene folk songs and Slovenian poet France Prešeren’ poems to German. Her painting and his poetry are an important part of common culture of today’s Slovenia and Austria. It is a work that connects both modern nations. It is not only hundreds of years of common (political) history, there is also culture that they share. The old nobility acting and living space was larger than the single old Austrian “lands”. Attems family cradle is in today’s Italy. Auersperg and Attems families had many properties in all the part of today’s Slovenia. There are still castles an even parks in the country which once belonged to the families and which need to be maintained better. The role of nobility in the past centuries in Slovenia is more or less forgotten as these countrymen lost their property and majority of them also lost citizenship in the twentieth century. Nevertheless, the Marija Auersperg Attems paintings and her husband’s poetry, their gardens, landscapes and castles were possible only because they belonged to the class that could afford them. There is another aspect that makes painting of Marija Auersperg Attems appealing. It is the flowers! Middle age and elderly people like her work because they recognise flowers from the countryside gardens from their youth. The paintings move them emotionally and when they are “caught” by a painting, they would also listen to stories hidden behind it. What is the connection between Countess Marija Aurespreg Attems’s flowers and simple country gardens? Gardens of noblemen have for centuries been the only ornamental gardens in the country and they acted as models for other people - when once they could afford one. Besides that, these gardens were source of new ornamental plants. There is still a believe among Slovenians that a stolen plant grows best…

Is painter Marija Auersperg Attems an Austrian or Slovenian artist? Frames of present national states is too narrow to answer such a question. Usually, she would stay half a year in today’s Slovenia and the other half in Graz and Vienna. Her floral still lifes, depicting flowers from the gardens, must have been painted in Slovenia, where she spent summers. She got her private art education in Vienna and painted under influence of Viennese Art Academy. Her husband, Count Auersperg, translated Slovenian folk songs to German masterly and published them in Leipzig. He also translated poems of Slovenian most important romantic poet to German. He himself, more German than Austrian poet, is buried in Slovenia. Marija Auersperg Attems is perceived as a foreigner in Slovenia today. Surely, she was much more German than Slovene, but her and her husband’s high rank nobleman families have for centuries been important part of the society. The wealth enabled them to build castles, plant gardens, parks and landscapes and to paint and do poetry. The class of noblemen, which was erased in 20th century in today’s Slovenia, has actually been an important carrier of cultural creativity in the past. To understand this better, one also needs to understand a broader, European dimension. In the development of the project, experts not only form Slovenia, but also Austria and Italy have been engaged. We are convinced that the Marija Auersperg Attems work and life of a female artist in 19th century will arouse attention at least in the three named neighbouring countries.