Oskar Kokoschka : Un Fauve À Vienne

Exhibition at the Musée d'art moderne de la ville de Paris, 23 September 2022 - 12 February 2023

Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) was not only a painter, but also a writer, playwright and poet. He was a committed artist, driven by the artistic and intellectual upheavals of early 20th-century Vienna. With his desire to express the intensity of the moods of his time, and a certain talent for provocation, he became the enfant terrible of Vienna from 1908 onwards where, supported by Gustav Klimt and Adolf Loos, he inspired a new generation of artists, including Egon Schiele.

Described by the Nazis as a "degenerate" artist, Kokoschka became fully committed to the defence of freedom in the face of fascism. He managed to flee to Great Britain in 1938 where he took part in the international resistance. After the war, he became a leading figure on the European intellectual scene and participated in the cultural reconstruction of a devastated and divided continent.

This catalogue of the first Parisian retrospective devoted to Kokoschka follows the artist's rich path between the cities and countries he crossed, tracing seven decades of creation and giving an account of the boldness with which Oskar Kokoschka, witness to the great upheavals of the century, approached his painting. The book brings together a unique selection of 150 of the artist's most significant works, as well as contextualising texts, a chronology and a rich documentation of illustrations and writings by the artist.