In Memoriam Elfie Semotan (1941-2026)

Elfie was there.

She was fully present. She listened, asked questions, and took a stand. This despite the fact that she had long been one of those rare individuals who no longer have anything to prove. Her authority arose not from loudness but from experience, integrity, and a deep understanding of art’s significance.

Within art_curia, she was a driving force. With determination and plenty of feminine charm, she supported the curia’s initiatives and concerns—particularly when it came to reflecting upon current issues and conflicts from an artistic standpoint and formulating positions of broader relevance. She emphatically championed the view that a community of artists, thinkers, and intellectuals—including figures such as Kiki Smith, Michel Houellebecq, Peter Sloterdijk, Gerhard Rühm, and Patti Smith—must be aware of their social responsibility, especially in times like these.

Although she was busy with exhibitions of her own work, with the film about her second husband Martin Kippenberger, with the estate of Kurt Kocherscheidt, and not least with her sons August and Ivo, she remained attentive and committed. Not too long ago, we had visited the Federal President at the Hofburg to convince him of the importance of our concerns—only to realize that he was already convinced. What remained were conversations, observations, and impressions. One suddenly saw the Hofburg through her eyes, as well, with that quick, sharp, and near-infallible gaze—and it was probably only natural that our exchanges continued to revolve around “aesthetic intelligence” for a long time afterwards.

I believe it was ages ago that I first met Elfie. Perhaps in the early 1970s when I was friends with the Canadian photographer Brian Spence, who was working at filmmaker John Cook’s studio at the time. It was only later on that we truly got to know each other better, though—together with Kurt Kocherscheidt, her husband, one of the most subtle and consistent artists I have ever met and one whom I still hold in particularly high regard today. That was in connection with an exhibition I curated in Budapest in 1989.

Although we often went for long periods without seeing each other during those years in which Elfie achieved international recognition and acclaim, sometimes as long as a decade, she always remained close to me. Always near. When we met again, it seemed as if no time at all had passed. We could talk about anything: about art, about people, about politics—with which we were often equally preoccupied as well as annoyed, owed not least to the provincialism that keeps surfacing with astonishing tenacity in this city and in this country.

To understand Elfie, one had to know her special place—that old farmhouse between Hungary and Slovenia that she built out together with Kurt Kocherscheidt. A place of retreat and of activity. A place of concentration, nature, and work. There, one could sense how closely art, landscape, freedom, and life were intertwined for her. There, one would occasionally meet August and Ivo as well. And there, something essential about her understanding of the world became clear.

Just a few weeks ago, we had planned a photo shoot with my family—Elisabeth and Louisa—at the Helmut Lang exhibition. Unfortunately, it never happened.

Now it falls to me to bid Elfie Semotan farewell on behalf of the curia. We owe her a debt of gratitude not only for her support, her clarity, and her friendship, but also for the many wonderful moments we shared.

Elfie Semotan was unique in many ways. Not only as an icon of art, advertising, and fashion photography. Not only as a defining voice of a visual culture whose influence extends far beyond Austria. Above all, she was an extraordinary person: independent, alert, courageous, elegant, humorous, and possessed of a rare intellectual generosity.

Her view of the world was precise, her judgment clear, her loyalty unmistakable. She leaves her mark on art, on photography, and in the memories of those who were fortunate enough to meet her.

We will miss her.

Very much.

Peter Noever, chair art_curia
June 2026