Sonja Sekula


Sonja Sekula was a Swiss-born artist linked with the abstract expressionist movement, notable for her activity as an "out" lesbian in the New York art world during the 1940s and early 1950s.
She was born in Lucerne on 8 April 1918 to a Swiss mother, Berta Huguenin, and a Hungarian father, Béla Sekula, a philatelist.
She lived in America from 1936 to 1955.
She attended Sarah Lawrence College.
She met the surrealists in exile in New York during 1942.
On 25 April 1963 she hanged herself in her studio in Zurich after many years of mental health issues.
She is buried in St. Moritz as she had requested in a letter to her mother.

Early Life

Childhood to young adulthood: 1918 - 1941

Sekula and her family relocated to New York from Lucerne, Switzerland when she was a child. She lived in New York, New Mexico, Mexico, and in different cities in Europe.

Career

Sekula moved to New York in 1941. In a letter sent to her mother, Sonja described New York as "very gray. All the steel constructions are waking up and their steel shines towards new work." In New York she befriended American poet Carl Sandburg and met the surrealists in exile during 1942. It was during this time that she became part of an international circle of artists, writers, choreographers, and composers in New York in the 1940s, when she was in her early twenties. She attended the Art Students League in New York in the modernist classes of Morris Kantor. In New York she befriended American poet Carl Sandburg and met the surrealists in exile during 1942. It was during this time that she became part of an international circle of artists, writers, choreographers, and composers in New York in the 1940s, when she was in her early twenties.
Peggy Guggenheim included Sekula in the 1943 exhibition "31 Women" at her Art of This Century gallery, and gave her a solo exhibition in 1946. Betty Parsons Gallery exhibited Sekula's work in 1948.
Sekula returned to Switzerland with her family in 1955 and remained there for the rest of her life. Despite her she struggle with mental health problems, in 1955 Sekula had a solo exhibition at Galerie Palette, Zurich.

Personal Life

Sonja was extremely passionate about her artwork, expressing how proud she was to be around all the other artists and movements in New York during the 1940s. Her instructor described her as being "easy to get along with" yet also being "highly disturbed" When compared to her other students, Kantor explained "no matter what she did it was of great interest compared with the other students. She was always one of the best in the class. Her work was much more creative and moving than most; it always had great spirit."
Sonja Sekula was also extremely open about her homosexuality, and made frequent references to it in her writings and journals. In one entry, she wrote the following:
1960: "Let homosexuality be forgiven, let us hope that she will be welcome in the Greek mythology and protected by pagan nature gods as well for most often she did not sin against nature but tried to be true to the law of her own - To feel guilt about having loved a being of your own kind body and soul is hopeless - let us hope there were many pure moments in each of these attractions and loves - into which the realm of sphere and eternity and silence entered as well."
Sonja Sekula had a history of mental illness, having been admitted to several mental health clinics throughout her life. This aspect of her life was also well-documented in her own writings and journals:
1957: "I do not feel part of any country or race. I was well when they called me sick and often sick when they thought I am well. Have in thoughts been surprised at the vanity of others and surprised also at my own."
1961: "I hope to die without too much pain. Life was an interesting experience. I do not regret it-"

Exhibitions