Ioana Crewenski

Ioana Elena Crewenski (14 June 1899-18 December 1973) was an Australian born conceptual artist. Born in Clayton, Victoria to an engineer; Ivan Crewenski and his wife Victoria, she and her family were of Polish descent. She was educated at Oakleigh Orthodox Girls Grammar until the age of fifteen when she left school to marry Thomas Kevin Coombes; a Melbourne physicist twelve years her senior to whom she bore nine children. She lived in Berlin in the latter part of her life where she created most of her famous artworks. She is best known for her later artworks, predominantly inspired by the life of Adolf Hitler.

Early Works

Her early works include the very controversial painting, "Thy Bosom in Tongue" (1921). This sparked much anger amongst women's right activists across the state of Victoria, and was later banned in four states of Australia until the late 1960's. She later commented on the painting, describing it as 'the fierce glory and passion of one's body'. After the period of which this painting was banned, it was considered by many critics 'far ahead of it's time'.Her other earlier works include Mid Winter Days of Paramjeet (1923), Future Assyntone (1923), and Gay Street (1925). It was later suspected that 1960's brit-pop band, The Beatles, had used Gay Street as an inspiration to the cover for their eleventh studio album; Abbey Road, which was made soon after her death.