Oskar Kokoschka

Truly a classic of Modern Art. It was as if his ideas had been clear to him from the very beginning - he had only to follow them. The rest was compression, visualization and execution.

About Oskar Kokoschka's Art

When the great artist of drawing and painting Oskar Kokoschka died, paintings, watercolors, drawings and prints were found in his home in Villeneuve. With the establishment of the Oskar Kokoschka Foundation at the Musée Jenisch in Vevey in 1987, they became part of his estate. The founder, Olda Kokoschka, saw with satisfaction that key works from earlier phases were added to this valuable group of works to complete the collection. In the words of Véronique Mauron (Catalogue Villa dei Cedri Bellinzona), we arrive at the heart of this imposing painterly oeuvre through a detail. '...A further occupation of self-contemplation is consciously listening,' she writes, 'above all to a piece of music. With Kokoschka we see a remarkable group of works, a series of five lithographs with the title 'Das Konzert' (The Concert), in an impetuous script like the effect of music as it appears in the faces of the people. According to the artist, the real mirror of the soul is the face, in which the flow of emotions can be recognized.' Engrossment and dreaminess as moments of realization - the wide scale of Oskar Kokoschka's world of sensations is addressed. This is the focal point of his wide-ranging works with various different peaks of maturity, in which he was able to unite features of both Expressionism and Impressionism.

Although he had been a pupil of Klimt, Kokoschka had quickly cast the feathers of Jugendstil and had soon given preference to spacious Expressive painting. The architect Adolf Loos had encouraged him to leave the decorative circle of the Vienna Werkstätte. He soon painted decisive works such as 'Stilleben mit Hammel und Hyazinthe' (Still Life with Ram and Hyacinth). His narrative oeuvre is still important today. His contract with the Berlin gallerist, Paul Cassirer, reinforced him. His friendship with Alma Mahler remained an episode. In 1914, Kokoschka completed 'Windsbraut' (Bride of the Wind). He convalesced after a serious war wound in 1917 in Dresden. The lithograph 'Hiob' (Job), portrait lithographs, and etchings to 'Orpheus and Eurydice' come into being. He has contact to the Zurich Dadaists. Paul Westheim's monograph on Kokoschka is published. In it the phases of his life unfold one after another, thanks also to the biographical notes provided by Johann Winkler. In 1923 Oskar Kokoschka leaves Dresden. A period of travel follows, with the financial support of the Berlin art merchant Paul Cassirer. He creates his city portraits, lyrical dramatic landscapes. Although, as with other artists, the South (Toledo, Venice, Tunis, etc) had caused a lasting impression, Kokoschka was no less enthralled by the light of the North, to which his large cityscapes and landscapes testify: Prague, Dresden, London.

During the Nazi regime, some of Kokoschka's work was confiscated and he henceforth belonged to the illustrious ranks of artists labeled 'decadent'. During the Second World War, the artist concentrated more on the portrayal of nature and rediscovered - primarily due to financial considerations - the colored pencil drawing as well as the watercolor. During his Dresden period, the watercolor had become significant for Oskar Kokoschka. It is these techniques which accompany the artist in his old age. Kokoschka had already enjoyed painting portraits in Vienna - the quickness and transparency of the watercolor suited the artist well and shone in his paintings. Yet another aspect of his work must be recalled here - his illustrations for literature. From the start, Kokoschka managed to grasp a literary inspiration and transform it into drawings and, from the 50's, important groups and series of prints.

The path for Kokoschka led to drawing. It was as if his ideas had been clear to him from the very beginning. He had only to follow them - the rest was compression, visualization and execution. He brought color and form to an equal level. With fire and vehemence, he became one of the strongest Expressionists of his times. Carrying out his ideas had not been easy, Olda Kokoschka confirmed. He wanted to venture forth into new reaches of his language and yet not quite relinquish the traditional. He sought the great synthesis with classical art. The artist's early work is mysteriously unrestrained and at the same time, demonstrates a terribly vehement power of expression. This is also true of his portraits and enchanted mythical paintings of his Dresden period, as well as the works he created on his travels thereafter. He fled from Prague to London in 1938, and this caused a break in his career. Thereafter his art became rebellion, clear insight and reflection. Portraiture was an important field of his paintings and drawings. Even at the end of the 60=s and on into the 70=s, his self-images and his allegorical imagination were still vibrant through an uninterrupted relation to color as a decisive balancing act between conscious observation, willful composition and intuitive placement. This led to the highly improvisational art which made Kokoschka=s language unmistakable.

About his Prints