Oskar Kokoschka. Bad Boy of Viennese Modernism

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Bath Royal Literature and Scientific Institute A New Worldview: Vienna’s Contribution to European Culture 1890-1930 Symposium, March 19th-21st 2021 Bernadette Reinhold Director, Oskar Kokoschka Centre, University of Applied Arts Vienna Oskar Kokoschka. Bad Boy of Viennese Modernism 20th of march 2021, 12 am Alongside Gustav Klimt and Egon Schiele, Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) belongs to the prominent trias of Viennese Modern Art. His debut at the Kunstschau in Vienna, an exhibition celebrating the the emperor’s diamond jubilee in 1908, became a major scandal. The same is true for the premiere of his Murder, Hope of Women, one of the first expressionistic plays in literary history, in the following year. As „Oberwildling“ he received mostly scathing criticism, but gave him access to the avant-garde circles around Karl Kraus, Arnold Schönberg, and especially Adolf Loos. The latter became his mentor, and sent him to Switzerland, Berlin and Munich. Promoted by curators, art historians and dealers, O.K.’s international career as a radical young talent began. Nevertheless, he continuously felt himself to be the victim of conservative Viennese art critics throughout his entire life. He was convinced that his damnation as a „degenerated artist“ by the Nazi cultural policy, that already started in the 1920ies was rooted in his early, long lasting damnation. https://www.brlsi.org/

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International Sympsium A New Worldview: Vienna’s Contribution to European Culture 1890-1930

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