Biography

Biography

1886-1909

Born on March 1, 1886 in Pöchlarn on the Danube, childhood and youth in modest circumstances in Vienna. His father Gustav, a trained goldsmith from Prague, worked as a traveling salesman; his mother Romana, a forester's daughter from Lower Austria. Siblings: Berta (1889-1960), Bohuslav (1892-1976). 1895 State Trade School, 1904 High school graduation.

1904-1909 Studies at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts (now the University of Applied Arts Vienna) with professors Anton von Kenner, Carl Otto Czeschka and Bertold Löffler.

1907 Works for the Wiener Werkstätte in parallel to his studies, designing postcards and posters as well as the fairy tale book Die träumenden Knaben (The Dreaming Boys) (text and colour lithographs). Does life drawing from moving models at the School of Arts and Crafts.

1908 Exhibition debut at the Kunstschau in Vienna where he receives mainly derisive criticism. Becomes acquainted with architect Adolf Loos, who goes on to emphatically promote him for years; introduction to the circle surrounding Karl Kraus, Peter Altenberg, Arnold Schönberg, the married couple Eugenie and Hermann Schwarzwald, and other representatives of the Viennese avant-garde; produces numerous portraits.

1909 The performance of his expressionist drama Mörder Hoffnung der Frauen (Murderer, Hope of Women) in the Garden Theater at the 1909 International Art Show ends in scandal. Graduates from the School of Arts and Crafts.

1910/1911

Travels with Loos to Switzerland, produces portraits of patients in a lung sanatorium. Lives in Berlin, collaborates with the circle surrounding Herwarth Walden and contributes several graphics for the magazine Der Sturm. As an prominent artist, he is represented at the spring exhibition of the Vienna Hagenbund in 1911 and again receives fierce criticism, as well as praise. Works as a drawing instructor at Eugenie Schwarzwald's private girls' school; and is forcibly dismissed by the school authorities the following year.

1912/1913

Begins relationship with Alma Mahler, widow of composer Gustav Mahler; many expressions of their love reflected in his art. Kokoschka works an assistant at the School of Arts and Crafts for one year. Trip to Italy with Alma.

1914/1915

Volunteers for military service at the outbreak of war: deployment as a cavalryman on the Eastern Front in Galicia from mid-June until the end of August, when he is severely injured from a gunshot wound to the head and a punctured lung. Transferred from a field hospital in Brno to the Palffy Hospital in Vienna. Spring 1915 separates from Alma Mahler.

1916/1917

In June, frontline service as liaison officer on the Isonzo Front and as war painter, sustains a new injury. Travels to Berlin, signs contract with Berlin gallerist Paul Cassirer; convalescence at Weißer Hirsch sanatorium in Dresden toward the end of the year. World premiere of the dramas Hiob (Job) and Mörder, Hoffnung der Frauen (Murderer, Hope of Women) and Der brennende Dornbusch (The Burning Bush) at the Albert Theater in Dresden. Travels to Sweden.

1918

Paul Westheim writes the first monograph on Kokoschka. Kokoschka commissions a doll in the likeness of Alma Mahler from the Munich artist Hermine Moos.

1919-1922

Kokoschka receives a professorship at the Dresden Academy of Fine Arts. Period of intense artistic output, participation in the German pavilion at the 1922 Venice Biennale.

1923/1924

Requests leave from the Dresden Academy; his father’s death in 1923 in Vienna causes him to make several trips to Vienna throughout this time. Travels to Italy and Paris. Contract with Cassirer provides him with an income for the next few years.

1924-early 30s

Extensive travels to Portugal, Spain, the Netherlands, London, France, the Middle East and North Africa. Produces numerous landscape and cityscapes. Lives in Vienna for extended periods.

1934-1936

Political events in Austria and his mother’s death lead Kokoschka to relocate to Prague in October 1934, where he meets Olda Palkovská, whom he will subsequently marry. He paints portraits of President Thomas Masaryk and Prague cityscapes. He speaks up against the National Socialists through lectures and essays.

1937-1946

Kokoschka's work is denounced as “degenerate” by the National Socialists. Over 600 of his works are removed from German museums. A large retrospective is held in Vienna, and his works are shown in the Degenerate Art show in Munich. Gains Czechoslovakian citizenship in 1938 and in October of that year he and Olga flee from Prague to London. Initially faces difficult economic circumstances on emigration. Co-founds the Free German Cultural Association in London. Resides in Cornwall and Scotland. Marries Olda in 1941. In his works Kokoschka denounces Hitler’s mania for conquest, but also criticises the Allies. Engages in humanitarian efforts, including producing his poster Christus neigt sich zu den hungernden Kindern (Christ Helping the Starving Children). Considers returning to Austria and decides against it for political and economic reasons.

1947/1948

Mr. and Mrs. Kokoschka receive British citizenship in 1947. Numerous exhibitions throughout Europe in the years following the war, starting with retrospectives in Basel and Zurich in 1947. Participates in the Venice Biennale in 1948.

1949-1952

Exhibits in New York and Washington, runs a summer course in Boston. Paints the Prometheus triptych in London (now in the Courtauld Institute). 1952 Guest lecturer at the Minneapolis School of Art.

1953

Director (until 1963) of international summer school in Salzburg School of Seeing. Moves into his own studio residence in Villeneuve on Lake Geneva.

1954 and later

Thermopylae Triptych for Hamburg University. 1955 Stage design for The Magic Flute in Salzburg. 1956 Numerous exhibitions to mark his 70th birthday, catalogue raisonné of paintings by Hans M. Wingler. 1958 Large Kokoschka exhibition at the Vienna Künstlerhaus.

1960 and later

1960 Erasmus Prize together with Marc Chagall. Numerous drawings from trips to Greece (1961) and Italy (1963). Portrait of Konrad Adenauer in 1966. 1966 and in subsequent years he has numerous exhibitions to mark the occasion of his 80th birthday. Trip to America.

1971 and later

1971 autobiography My Life. 1973 Trip to Israel, develops the lithography series Jerusalem Faces with portraits of Teddy Kollek, Golda Meir and others. Bruno Kreisky grants Kokoschka Austrian citizenship in 1974. 1975 Catalogue raisonné of prints (Hans M. Wingler / Friedrich Welz).

1980

Kokoschka dies in Montreux on February 22 at the age of 94.