Dea Murk
Born in 1932.
Died in 2003.
Dea Murk, a name listed in SIKART, is given the dates 1932–2003 and described as originating from Surava (Val d'Alvra) in the biographical entries consulted. Specialist sources describe her as a painter, lithographer and draughtswoman.
Her initial training included attending a commercial and language school in Neuchâtel, followed by studies in 1950–1951 at the «scola d'art applitgà da Son Gagl», according to the biographical entry. She subsequently undertook study stays in Rome and Paris in 1953–1954, where she studied art history, according to the same sources.
From 1960, she worked as a commercial graphic designer in Chur (Cuira) and Vaduz, according to the entry consulted. From 1970, she is described as an independent professional artist. The documentation mentions exhibitions between 1973 and 2002 in several Swiss galleries, including a solo exhibition in 1977 at Galerie Laudinella in St. Moritz.
She lived in Chur with Filomena Murk and was the parent of four children, according to the cited family entry.
Auction records document a varied body of work comprising acrylics, oils on canvas, monotypes, lithographs, gouaches and relief works. Dated and signed works include an «Ohne Titel (Rot)» (acrylic on cardboard, 1963), an «Abstrakt 2» (oil on canvas, 1967), the monotype «Christus am Kreuz» and reliefs in oil on plywood dated 1983; some pieces bear dedications on the reverse. A gouache entitled «Blaue Kristalle» is documented in 1979; the records consistently note the presence of signatures and dates on these supports.
Several records indicate a family provenance for certain works, for example the collection of the godchild's family, and mention dedications inscribed on the reverse of works. In 2008, the family decided to open a permanent exhibition space in the artist's house in Chur, as reported in the entry consulted. The available bibliography also lists a biographical entry in the Lexicon istoric retic (reference: Adolf Collenberg).
