Self-portrait (1936 körül)

She attended the OMIKE School of Painting, then from 1924 she studied at the School of Industrial Drawing, and later at the School of Applied Arts, where she studied textiles. At the College of Fine Arts she qualified as a drawing teacher under the tutelage of István Groh, Gyula Kasz, Adolf Fényes, Oszkár Glatz and István Réti. In 1936 she was an assistant to Vilmos Aba-Novák. She studied in Austria and Italy. From 1934 she was a member of the Group of Socialist Artists. Between 1937-40 she worked as a textile designer, then became a designer in a paper factory. In 1940 and 1943 she participated in exhibitions organised by the OMIKE Art Action. In 1946 she was a lecturer in the cultural policy department of the town hall. In 1947-49 she worked at the Budapest Picture Gallery; in 1950-51 at the New Hungarian Picture Gallery of the Museum of Fine Arts, and later at the Hungarian National Gallery. From 1957 to 1970 she was head of the Graphic Arts Department. 

Anna Oelmacher's Self-Portrait combines the plastic formal language of her master, Vilmos Aba-Novák, and the neoclassicism of the Roman School with the more sombre colours of the Socialist Artists' Group. Oelmacher portrays himself in a self-conscious and austere manner. His occupation is indicated by his painter's cloak and the painting detail in the background.