Oskar Kokoschka, “Rudolf Blümner” (1910), part of a new show of the artist’s works at Neue Galerie New York.
Neue Galerie New York is currently showing six oil paintings and 40 drawings by the late Oskar Kokoschka. Â All works are drawn from the museum’s holdings, and will be on display through October 5. Â “Focus” runs concurrently with the Neue Galerie’s “Selections from the Permanent Collection,” which shows works that comment on the political and social changes in post-WWI Germany.
Related links:
Neue Galerie New York
Oskar Kokoschka – Modernity Met With Hope and Despair at the Neue Galerie [New York Times]
Viennese Culture on the Skids [New York Observer]
Oskar Kokoschka, “Martha Hirsch (Dreaming Woman” (1909), at Neue Galerie.
more images and story after the jump…
Oskar Kokoschka, “The Dreaming Youths Part 6: Sleeping Girl” (1907), at Neue Galerie New York.
Though more recognized for his oil paintings, Oskar Kokoschka also created many graphic works, several of which are included in the show. Gustav Klimt, president of the Vienna Secession, called him “the outstanding talent among the younger generation”.  Kokoschka himself has said that “human beings are not still lifes,” and the works in the exhibition emphasize this philosophy.  There is something off-kilter about Kokoschka’s figures: the proportions are awkward, their stances often unlikely.  The “face can be evoked, but never defined,” he continues. The paintings, to Kokoschka, are not attempts to capture reality: they are evocations.
Oskar Kokoschka at Neue Galerie, via The L Magazine.
Oskar Kokoschka, “Victor Ritter von Bauer” (1914), at Neue Galerie.
Oskar Kokoschka, “Emil Löwenbach” (1914), at Neue Galerie.
Born in 1886 in Pörchlam, Austria, Oskar Kokoschka was, per Neue Galerie, “a key figure in the history of Expressionism.” He first gained recognition with his participation in Vienna Kunstschau in 1908, the same year in which he published his first book of poetry. After enlisting in the Austro-Hungarian Army in 1914, and subsequently discharged two years later with severe injuries, Kokoschka taught for a short time at the Academy of Arts in Dresden. Ten years later, in 1932, he showed at the Venice Biennale, and had exhibitions since then at galleries around the world until his death in 1980.
Oskar Kokoschka, “Paul Scheerbart” (1910), at Neue Galerie. Via The Art Newspaper.
Oskar Kokoschka, “Dancing Young Girl in a Blue Dress, the Right Hand on the Hem” (1908), at Neue Galerie.
– R. Fogel
