Oskar Kokoschka

 

Oskar Kokoschka

(Pöchlarn, 1886 - Montreux, 1980) Austrian expressionist painter and writer. Although he was born in Pöchlam, his family moved to Vienna, where he spent his childhood, youth and formative years.

 

 

Oskar Kokoschka

 

After studying at the School of Applied Arts in Vienna, where he made his first oil portraits, Kokoschka painted a series of expressionist portraits and began an intense educational activity. In 1912 his work was already beginning to be known outside his country.

 

During World War I he was badly wounded on the Eastern Front. Later fully devoted to painting, he traveled to numerous countries and, after marrying Olda Palkovska (1941), he acquired British nationality (1947), although in 1975 he regained Austrian citizenship. He died in Montreux, Switzerland, on February 22, 1980.

 

 

The Bride of the Wind (1914), by Oskar Kokoschka

 

His work is initially under the influence of Jugendstil and, in a very direct way, of the Austrian painter and decorator Gustav Klimt. He joined the group Die Brücke and participated as an illustrator in the magazine "Der Sturm". His works include Portrait of Adolf Loos (1909), The Bride of the Wind (1914), The Whirlwind (1917) and The Power of Music (1919), as well as portraits of numerous artists, intellectuals and high-ranking personalities. society. After 1945, his painting showed the horrors of war.

 

Kokoschka, who is one of the great representatives of contemporary expressionist painting, was also a playwright (Murderer, Women's Hope, 1910; The Sphinx and the Scarecrow, 1917) and published his memoirs under the title My Life.

 

How to cite this article:

Fernández, Tomás and Tamaro, Elena. "Oskar Kokoschka Biography". In Biographies and Lives. The online biographical encyclopaedia [Internet]. Barcelona, Spain, 2004. https://www.biografiasyvidas.com/biografia/k/kokoschka.htm [date of access: August 19, 2023].

Art Works

 

 

With affection,

Ruben