Oskar Kokoschka. A Rebel from Vienna

An “enfant terrible” in Vienna (1907-1916)

Inspired by the vibrant atmosphereof pre-World WarI Europe,Kokoschka’searly works are radicalintheir motives, lines, andexperimentswith color.Thehuman body anditsmeansof expression are the main subjectsof Kokoschka’s early drawings. The artistcaptures themodels'movements on paperwithsubtle yetexpressivelines.KokoschkaincreasinglyabandonsthedecorativestyleofVienneseArtNouveauin favor ofsharpangular linesthatgivethebodies their extraordinary quality.Theimpactofthis newstyleis reflectedinthestronginfluenceithadoncolleagueslikeEgonSchiele,butalsointhereactionsofthe shockedViennesepublic.Thedrawings,therefore,markthebeginningofKokoschka'sradicalcritiqueof artistic conventions and traditional bourgeois worldviews.

AfterhisbreakthroughattheViennaArtExhibitionin1908,Kokoschkabegananintensivelycreative period.TheyoungartistreceivedcountlessportraitcommissionsthankstoAdolfLoos,oneofhisearliest patrons. Subsequently, Kokoschka created numerous paintingsin which he explored his full potential and consolidatedhisreputationasanenfantterrible.Leavingclassicalidealsbehind,Kokoschkausesportrait paintingasananalyticalinstrumentthatcanrevealtheinnerselfofthesitter.Heabandonstheconcrete backgrounds infavorof diffuse color spacesfromwhichthe portrayed emerge withunparalleled immediacy. Likeinhis drawings, heproves his extraordinary ability tocapturementalstates oncanvas.

Oskar Kokoschka and composer Alma Mahler met in Carl Moll's house. As she notes in her autobiography,hewasaguestthereinApril1912anddrewherwhilesheplayedthepiano.Afteranother meeting two dayslater, Kokoschkasentherthefirst of at least fourhundred love letters. Intheyears betweenthistenderbeginningandthebitterendthatthestormyrelationshipwastotake,Almabecame Kokoschka’smost famousmuse.Numerousportraits bearwitness tohis fascinationwith her.His obsession culminatesinthewell-knowndollthatKokoschkahadmadeduringhistimeinDresden.

TheDresdenYears(1916–1923)

Shakenby his breakup with Alma Mahlerin 1914,with whom hehad atumultuous relationshipKokoschka joinedthearmyattheoutbreakoftheFirstWorldWar.Hewasseriouslywoundedtwice.Hethenmoved toGermany.HestayedinBerlin untiltheendof1916,wherehesignedacontractwith thegallery owner Paul Cassirer (1871-1926). While going through a period of profound depression due to the war, he receivedcareinaconvalescenthomeinDresden.Hequicklygainedafootholdintheartsceneand receivedaprofessorshipattheAcademyofFineArtsinDresden.Thesubsequentyearsshouldprove particularly fruitful for Kokoschka's artistic work. The paintings of this period standout due to the rapidly applied and intense colors. They are skillfully juxtaposed, and thus, their intensity is heightened. These paintingsonlylooselyadheretotheformsofthedepicted,andeverythingisdissolvedinpure,dazzling colors. Figures and objects oscillate between manifestation and dissolution. The strongly coarsened light andshadowareas,whichmeetwithouttransitions,furthercontributetothisstunningeffect.Therefore,the masterpiecesoftheDresdenyearsareamongthemostoutstandinginKokoschka'soeuvre.

Journeys(1923–1934)

Afterhispioneeringartisticyears inDresden,Kokoschkagaveuphis chairatthelocalacademy offinearts in1923.Thegallerist Paul CassirerprovidedKokoschka withfinancial support as he traveledacross Europe, NorthAfrica,andtheMiddleEast.Thelandscapes,urbanscenes,portraitsofpeopleandanimals,and otherworks contrastsharplywiththeexperimentalapproachheusedinDresden.Kokoschka,who continuallyreinventedhimself,foundanewstylethatdifferedsignificantlyfromtraditionalpainting methods.Hislandscapesdonotaimtoreproducethetopographyofagivenlocationbutrathertocapture theiratmospherewithunparalleledexpressiveness."Iwantedtocreatespaceoutofcolors,"heoncesaid.

Oftentheyareshownfromanelevatedpointofviewandhaveenormousspatialdepth.ForKokoschka, observingcitiesandlandscapesfromhighpanoramicpointsofviewbecameameansofprocessingthe traumaticexperiencesinthedeeptrenchesoftheFirstWorldWar.Withthesepaintings,Kokoschka becameonceagaina pioneer androlemodel.PaulCassirer'ssuicideon January7,1926,followedby the 1929 stockmarketcrisis,hurt Kokoschkadeeply. Losing hisprimary supporterput him infinancialtrouble. Indesperateneed,hereturnedtoViennain1932andfoundthe cityplaguedbyseverepoliticaltroubles linked to the rise of fascism.

ResistanceinPague(1934–1938)

Kokoschka’smother’s healthwas compromisedin Viennaduring the 1934civil warbetween thefascists and thesocialists,andshepassedawayafewweekslater.HemovedtoPrague,thecityofhisfather,wherehis sister Bertalived,due to financialdifficulties,hoping to findabetter situationfor himself.There hemet the legalstudentOldaPalkovská(1915–2004),whomhewouldmarryin1941.Thepaintingshenowcreated, showingpeopleinbucoliclandscapesettings,seemlikeanescapefromthedirepoliticalreality.

FromCzechoslovakia,KokoschkaobservedhowtheNazitrapprogressivelyclosedaroundEurope. He published numerous articles and organized conferences to alert people of the danger. His artistic engagement withpolitical subjectsbecameevenmore vital. Several of his paintings were included in the traveling exhibition of degenerate art, alongside many other works of the European avant-garde.

Kokoschka’sskillfulSelf-PortraitofaDegenerateArtistwashisresponse. Exile in England (1938–46)

AftertheannexationofAustriabytheNationalSocialists,KokoschkafledfromPraguetoEnglandatthe urgingofOlda.Hehadtostartfromscratchinanationthathadnotyetrecognizedhisartistictalents.He ledamodestlifestylewithOldabetweenLondonandPolperro,Cornwall.Againsttheodds,thepolitical commitment of the artist, who had been classified as "degenerate" by the Nazis, intensified. Kokoschka radicallyopposedNationalSocialismandbegananoutstandingpacifistcommitmentmakinghimaleading figureoftheinternationalresistance.Inadditiontonumerouswrittencommentariesandspeeches,he createdaseriesofpoliticalallegoriesinwhichhesharplydenouncedthecurrentsituationinEurope."The artistmustserveasawarning,"asheoncedefinedtherelationshipbetweenpoliticsandart.Kokoschka's politicalimagesareangryandemotionalstatementswithwhichhewantstoattractpublicattention.He also proclaimed his pacifism and the importance of reconciliation through the designof posters that he displayed and the writing of publications.

Afterthe end of the war, he obtained British citizenship in1947, allowing him to resume histravelsaround Europe.EventhoughheimmediatelylefttoseehisfamilyinVienna,herefusedtosettlethereoncemore. TheKunsthalleinBaselhadasizableexhibitionofhisworkthatsameyear,establishinghimasasignificant artistandacrucialfigureinrestoringEuropeanculture.