Kokoschka (Great Modern Masters)

One of a series of monographs on great 20th-century artists (Great Modern Masters), this title is concerned with Oskar Kokoschka, a major figure in the Expresionist movement. After studying in Vienna, where he was strongly influenced by Art Nouveau, he painted the first of his Expressionist portraits, characterized by restless draughtsmanship and broken patterns of colour. Seriously wounded in World War I, Kokoschka produced little work until 1924 when he began a series of journeys through Europe to refresh his creative spirit. During this period he embarked on a number of colour experiments, particularly in landscape paintings. Condemned as "degenerate" by the Nazi regime, his paintings in public collections were confiscated, and Kokoschka subsequently moved to London, and then to Switzerland. His late paintings retain the Expressionist qualities of his best mature work, and their increasing abstraction reveals a kinship to Abstract Expressionism. This book presents 74 of Kokoschka's works in an accessible text, fully documenting his artistic achievement.