Facts about Oskar Kokoschka
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Kokoschka's 1956 painting Thermopylae, depicting the ancient Greek battle, was created when the artist was 70 years old and represented his final major historical composition.
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Kokoschka's 1963 lithographic portfolio Thermopylae comprised 21 prints depicting the ancient Greek battle, created as a meditation on political resistance during his final decades.
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Kokoschka's 1931 lithograph cycle Gefesselter Kolumbus comprised ten prints depicting Columbus bound in chains, reflecting his political anxieties during the rise of European fascism.
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Kokoschka's 1925 journey to Egypt and Tunisia produced over 80 sketches and paintings that marked a significant shift toward more colorful, Mediterranean-influenced compositions in his artistic practice.
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Kokoschka's 1914 nervous breakdown following his breakup with Alma Mahler led him to volunteer for military service in World War I, where he served as a cavalry officer and was subsequently wounded in combat.
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Kokoschka's 1886 birth in Pöchlarn, Austria, preceded his influential role as a founder of the Vienna School of Expressionism by nearly two decades.
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The Swiss town of Villeneuve housed Kokoschka from 1953 until his death in 1980, where he continued painting and established himself as a celebrated elder statesman of modernist art.
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Kokoschka's 1910 play Mörder Hoffnung der Frauen caused riots at its Vienna premiere due to its shocking depictions of violence and sexuality.
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Kokoschka's 1924 painting The Power of Music features a life-size nude female figure and exemplifies his mature expressionist style developed after leaving Vienna.
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At age 76, Kokoschka was appointed professor of the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna in 1953, resuming his teaching career after 20 years of exile.
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Kokoschka's 1919 play Murderer Hope of Women premiered in Vienna and is considered one of the first major works of German expressionist drama.
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During World War II, Kokoschka fled Nazi-occupied Austria in 1938 and spent the war years in London, where he created propaganda artwork for the British government against the Third Reich.
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In 1912, Austrian expressionist Oskar Kokoschka created a life-sized doll of his lover Alma Mahler after their separation, commissioning it from a Munich dollmaker.