translated and summarized by: Liz Wollner-Grandville,
290908: Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz: Oskar Kokoschka – A vagabond in Linz. Wild, ostracised, acclaimed
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz: Oskar Kokoschka – A vagabond in Linz. Wild, ostracised, acclaimed
Master of self-realisation
“Which one of these three drawings could be the work of an amateur in a mental home?” is one of the questions asked in a little booklet. Answer: “You will be amazed: the upper right hand one! The other two were described as masterly graphics by Kokoschka”. A shack was constrtucted for exhibit “Oskar Kokoschka. A vagabond in Linz. Wild, ostracised, acclaimed” exhibit, in which, with the help of copies and documentary material the “Degenerate Art” exhibit becomes comprehensible. Today, these socalled ostracised works are all well known, but they still sends cold shivers up and down your spine. Six years after the end of the NS regime, Kokoschka exhibited his work in Linz – for the first time since 1945.
In contrast to the two Kokoschka-exhibits in Vienna, the Lentos does not only rely on the aura of his works – the curators (Elisabeth Nowak-Thaller, Nina Kirsch) included the documentation of the pictures' relationship to the city: to which extent did Wolfgang Gurlitt, founder of the Lentos, woo for the artist, how politicians adorned themselves with him – or rejected him, becomes apparent in press clippings and photographs.
Kokoschka’s time in Linz was not necessarily his most artistically exciting. Many of the works were already presented at the Belvedere or the Albertina, including portraits from the 1910’s, the Alma Mahler works, early act drawings or Kokoschka’s coloured pencil drawing of goats.
With the documentary presentation – which include photographs in which Kokoschka could act out his nearly comedian-like lust for self realization - the Lentos succeeds in adding a further biographical facet to Oskar Kokoschka.
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz
4020 Linz, Enrst-Koref-Promenade 1, until 05.10. 2008
www.lentos.at
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290908
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz
4020 Linz, Ernst-Koref-Promendade 1
Tel: +43 70 7070 36 00
Email: info@lentos.at
http://www.lentos.at
Öffnungszeiten: täglich außer Mo 10-18 Uhr, Do 10-21 Uhr
Lentos Kunstmuseum Linz
4020 Linz, Ernst-Koref-Promendade 1
Tel: +43 70 7070 36 00
Email: info@lentos.at
http://www.lentos.at
Öffnungszeiten: täglich außer Mo 10-18 Uhr, Do 10-21 Uhr