Oskar Kokoschka - Kunst und Politik

Result of our research is a monographic study dealing with a prominent part of Kokoschka`s life and work which has hitherto been regarded too little by scholars. The years of his exile in Prague and particularly in London, where he had to work under a lot of stress and pressure, are the time in which his political allegories came to be. As these works are outside the established canon of art historical development, and as they have no affinity to Surrealism or to Abstract art, scholars have so far spent comparatively less effort to analyse them. This study approaches the group of these works from a transdisciplinary perspective. The authors (G. Sultano is trained historian, P. Werkner art historian) set out from different questions with regard to his oevre and his life. This results in combining the view of a prominent body of Kokoschka`s paintings with a biographical perspective set against a political-historical background. The years between 1937 and 1950 were chosen as preliminary structure for a segment of a part of Kokoschka`s life and work, in which he was hit to the utmost by the politcal changes of the time. 1937 was picked because of the prominent exhibition which Kokoschka had in that year at the Österreichische Museum für Kunst und Industrie in Vienna and also in the travelling exhibition "Degenerate Art", which was first opened in Munich. 1950 was picked for various reasons, among them the large overview of Kokoschka`s work in the "Haus der Kunst" in Munich. By this, the artist was rehabilitated, as it was, at the place of his former degradation. Art historical analysis of Kokoschka`s paintings is combined here with poltical history, with reception history and history of institutions, and also with questions regarding the role of the audience. The Viennese exhibition is analysed including studies of some of its proponents, among them the curator Carl Moll, Ferdinand Bloch-Bauer, the maecenas, and the museum`s director, Richard Ernst. The show "Degenerate Art", which was held at nearly the same time in Munch, is looked upon with reference to the prototype of such "exhibitions of disgrace". The role attributed to Kokoschka in the show is also analysed. The auction in Lucerne, in 1939, in which highly prominent works from German museums were sold, shows itself as another variation of his defamation in the "Reich". Kokoschka had a prominent role in exile, first in Prague, then in London, where he became a leading figure among emigrants and in antifascist circles. The chapter on the poltical allegories both treats the allegorical group of his works and provides an elemental iconographical view in context. The era of the Cold War, which has also become prominent among art historians in recent years, plays an important role in the reception of Kokoschka`s work after WW II. The artist`s strenuous relationship to Viennese poltical and art circles is treated here, as well as the story of Kokoschka`s portrait of the Viennese mayor Theodor Körner. Finally, the question of the artist`s relationship to the Salzburg-based art dealer Friedrich Welz is examined, and also his conservative turnaround in the late 40`s. The illustrations of the study are also of considerable interest, as they provide another form of insight at several occasions. Kokoschka, the letter-writer, is also being presented in a variety of long quotations. A synchronoptic presentation of political and cultural developments provides with a panorama of the time. A list of the artist`s exhibitions, a selection of contemporary critiques in the press, and the literature list provide the scholar with material for further research.