Oskar Kokoshka

description

An Austrian artist of Czech descent, an outstanding representative of Expressionism.

He was born into the family of a hereditary jeweller from the Czech Republic. His childhood and youth passed in Vienna, where he initially studied chemistry; at the age of 19, he entered the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts.

A student of Gustav Klimt, Oskar Kokoshka was the leader of Austrian Art Nouveau, a member of the Berlin group “Sturm” and a participant in numerous art exhibitions, a professor at the Dresden and Salzburg Academy of Arts. He is also known as a talented writer and playwright, whose works attracted the attention with their boldness and caused an ambiguous reaction of the public. Kokoschka’s work has laid down the main features that later were characteristic for Expressionist painting and theatre. In 1980, the Austrian Federal Government established the Oskar Kokoschka Award, one of the largest Austrian awards in the field of contemporary art.

Key ideas:

– Oskar Kokoska entered the history of fine art as one of the brightest representatives of Austro-German Expressionism. In the artist’s works, anguish, confusion, despair and fear of an imminent catastrophe are clearly expressed. The paintings of Kokoshka are mostly portraits, in which the author reveals the psychological depth and individual character of a person. His brightest works, «The portrait of Dr.Forel», «Adolf Loos», «The portrait of Herwart Walden», created between 1980 and 1919, depict a man in a three-quarter turn, sharply outlining his face. The hands of models are always very expressive in Kokoshka’s works, while the background remains neutral, mostly dark; the features of the depicted person are clearly visible. To sharpen the perception, the painter often distorts the lines of faces, which are deliberately exaggerated and extremely expressive, thus creating the effect of maximum penetration into the hero’s inner world and making his paintings extremely emotional.

– After the First World War, in which the artist was directly involved, he turned to landscape painting. Kokoshka’s works are mostly cityscapes, depicted from a bird’s eye view. In these paintings, the artist does not attempt to depict Prague, Budapest or Vienna with topographic precision, though seeks to reveal the peculiarities of these places, to express on the canvas the so-called “city soul”, which invisibly appears in his streets, squares, squares and habits of local residents.

– During the Second World War, the artist closely opposed the Nazi regime. In 1937, he created «The Union of Oskar Kokoshka», which included antifascist artists supporting the development of progressive German art. In these years, the artist created several allegorical paintings, the most famous of which was «Red egg», devoted to the Munich agreement.

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1886

1907

1909 - 1910

1911 - 1914

1914

1919

1924

1938

1953

1971

1980

The birth of the artist

He was born on March 1, 1886, Pöchlarn, Austria-Hungary.

He got acquainted with G. Klimt

As a student, Oscar began to work at the famous «Vienna workshops» uniting artists and artisans, where he was engaged in drawing postcards and vignettes. At this time, he got acquainted with G. Klimt, became his admirer and took part in the exhibition of young avant-garde artists organized by him. At the same time, Kokoshka created literary works. His works «Killer is the hope of women” and “Sphinx and Scarecrow” laid the foundation for the Expressionist theater in Germany.

Met well-known Austrian architect A. Loos

Met well-known Austrian architect A. Loos, with whom he traveled to Switzerland. Alpine views made a great impression on the artist and inspired him to paint landscapes. At the end of the trip, Loos invited the artist to Berlin, where he began working with Der Sturm magazine, edited by Walden. The drawings of Kokoshka were used to design the covers of almost every issue of the magazine.

The artist returned to Vienna

The artist returned to Vienna, where he became an assistant teacher at the School of Arts and Crafts. In his hometown, his personal exhibition was successfully held, despite the fact that it caused resentment from Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The artist met and fell madly in love with Alma Mahler, the widow of famous composer G. Mahler. Relations arose between Kokoshka and Mahler, strongly influencing the artist’s work and inspired him to create such works as «Self-portrait with Alma Mahler» (1912), «The Bride of the wind» (1914), etc.

Volunteered for the First World War

Volunteered for the First World War. The artist served at the Dragoon regiment and in 1915 was seriously injured in battle. At that time, he had a final breakup with Alma, which the artist experienced very hard. To recover from the bodily and spiritual wounds, the artist went for the treatment to Dresden.

In the post-war period, he became a professor at the Dresden Academy of Arts

In the post-war period, he became a professor at the Dresden Academy of Arts. Kokoshka bought a house and equipped his own studio there. The painting of the artist during that period became softer, it lacked themes of suffering and pessimism, as it was in his early work.

He started traveling around the world

After leaving his post in the Dresden Academy, he started traveling around the world. The artist visited various countries of Europe, North Africa, Egypt, Turkey, Palestine. Kokoshka turned to landscape painting and created a large number of works during the journey. Upon his return to his homeland, the artist organized personal exhibitions and participated in collective exhibitions. His work became popular and steadily grew in value.

His art was condemned by the press and persecuted by the authorities

In the years before the Second World War, Kokoshka’s situation considerably improved. His art was condemned by the press and persecuted by the authorities. The artist went to Prague, took Czech citizenship and lived there for several years. During the Second World War, the artist lived in London, where he was in fact isolated from the rest of the world.

Moved to the shore of Lake Geneva, in Villeneuve

Moved to the shore of Lake Geneva, in Villeneuve, to live there till the end of his days. In the late works of the artist, lyrical and decorative compositions on classical subjects predominated.