Emma Hauck

Emma Hauck (14 August 1878 – 1 April 1920) was a German outsider artist.

Biography

Emma Hauck was born in Ellwangen, Germany on 14 August 1878. In February 1909, she was admitted to the psychiatric hospital at the University of Heidelberg, diagnosed with dementia praecox. While institutionalized, Hauck wrote a series of letters to her husband which later were considered to be artworks. Hauck died on 1 April 1920 in Anstalt Wiesloch. Her letters are held in the Prinzhorn Collection, Heidelberg.

Legacy

Hauck's letters were included in the 2000 exhibition The Prinzhorn Collection: Traces Upon the Wunderblock at the Drawing Center, New York.

In 2000, the Brothers Quay directed the film In Absentia, documenting Hauck's letters. It was included in the 2013 exhibition Quay Brothers: On Deciphering the Pharmacist’s Prescription for Lip-Reading Puppets at the Museum of Modern Art, New York.

In 2019, the Utah-based Pygmalion Theatre company produced the play Sweetheart Come based on Hauck's letters and her life story.