黑料不打烊

OSKAR KOKOSCHKA (1886鈥�1980) was a key figure in the history of Expressionism. 鈥淔ocus: Oskar Kokoschka鈥� presents paintings and drawings by the artist from the Neue Galerie collection. The exhibition is on view from July 16 through October 5, 2009. Oskar Kokoschka first gained notice with his appearance in the seminal Vienna Kunstschau of 1908. Gustav Klimt, president of the Vienna Secession, described the artist as 鈥渢he outstanding talent among the younger generation.鈥� Kokoschka received his greatest acclaim for his portraits. He was able to fix his reactions to a sitter directly on the canvas, without preparatory studies. The subjects of his portraits are illuminated from within, rather than from an exterior light source. In this way, Kokoschka animates his sitters. In a 1912 lecture he gave in Vienna, titled 鈥淰om Bewusstsein der Gesichte鈥� (On the Awareness of Visions), Kokoschka presented his most detailed comments on his approach to portraiture. The artist explains that the condition of the soul finds living expression in a face; he describes trying to capture a state that 鈥渃an be evoked but never defined鈥� in his portraits. The history of a human being can never be fixed, he concludes, because it is 鈥渁 part of life itself.鈥� As the artist himself commented on another occasion, 鈥淗uman beings are not still lifes.鈥� In addition to his oil portraits, the exhibition includes a selection of the artist鈥檚 drawings. Graphic works that Kokoschka created for the Wiener Werkst盲tte demonstrate his swift passage from Jugendstil to Expressionism, and from illustrator to artist.