‘[A] rich literary study of a major cultural figure’
Art History
‘Rüdiger Görner is a thorough expert in all things Kokoschka, and his work is entertaining as it is knowledgeable.’
New Art Examiner
REVIEWS ‘This is a revelatory new biography of Oskar Kokoschka. Rüdiger Görner tells the story of the life and loves of this unique Central European painter and man of letters as he interacted with writers, musicians and artists in is milieu as well as many important political leaders. Arguably full of inner contradictions, Kokoschka remains a hugely significant figure whose relevance is undiminished indeed for these times.’ ‘An unconventional but long-awaited approach to Kokoschka’s rich oeuvre. Rüdiger Görner sets Kokoschka’s singular character against a social, literary and political background in a century of European turmoil, shedding light on how contemporaries such as Thomas Mann and Karl Kraus viewed his work. This new biography is a holistic reflection on Kokoschka as a person, with his paintings and writings, his enemies and lovers, his agonies and hopes.’ ‘Rüdiger Görner does not separate the artist from his life. Kokoschka was driven, always trying to cross boundaries, be they moral, political or social. The veracity of his art was the result of these frictions never being hidden. Görner works along the same principles, creating a convincing book and presenting the entire Kokoschka, perhaps for the first time, and leaves the reader with an unforgettable impression.’ ‘Görner unearths a plentitude of unexpected and enlightening discoveries about Kokoschka’s life’ Oskar Kokoschka (1886–1980) was an artist of his time, but he also stood out among his peers – not just because of his towering physical height but for his artistic range. Using both brush and pen to work against the tide, he wrote plays and stories as well as essays on art and politics, playing a major role in the development of twentieth-century European art. A rebel of the art world, he was used to controversy, and Rüdiger Görner’s accomplished biography traces the dark, unsettling aspects of Kokoschka’s life alongside his more celebrated achievements: from the eerie doll he had made in the image of a former lover to the unconventional art school he founded in the aftermath of the Second World War. Taking us from his birthplace of Pöchlarn across Europe and to the United Kingdom, where he became a naturalised British citizen in 1947, this first English-language biography does more than show Kokoschka as a maverick artist; it is the definitive interpretation of an extraordinary life. RÜDIGER GÖRNER was professor of German with comparative literature at Queen Mary University of London. The founder of the Ingeborg Bachmann Centre for Austrian Literature and the founding director of the Centre for Anglo-German Cultural Relations, his books include biographies of Rainer Maria Rilke, Georg Trakl, and Stefan Zweig.
‘Kokoschka was a leading figure in the Central European expressionist movement. . . . Gӧrner presents a serviceable narrative that captures the ‘inner tension, excitement and drama’ of Kokoschka’s career.’
Choice
Norman Rosenthal
Catherine Hug, curator of Kunsthaus Zürich
Johann Konrad Eberlein, former director of the Institute of Art History at University of Graz
Timothy Benson, curator of Robert Gore Rifkind Center for German Expressionist Studies, Los Angeles County Museum of Art
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| ISBN | 9781914979149 |
| Pages | 366 |
£14.99