Pöchlarn/Lower Austria 1886 – 1980 Montreux
Born on March 1, 1886 in Pöchlarn, Lower Austria, Kokoschka studied at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts from 1904 to 1909.
and made his debut in 1908 at the Vienna "Kunstschau". In the following period, Kokoschka's exhibited works or performed dramas often led to heated public discussions. In 1909 the artist met Adolf Loos, one of his most important patrons. The
Kokoschka's affair with Alma Mahler, which lasted from 1912 to 1915, also influenced many of the artist's subsequent works. After his military service in 1914/15, Kokoschka accepted a professorship in Dresden from 1919 to 1923. He spent the following ten years mainly traveling, moving to Vienna in 1933 and Prague in 1934, fleeing to London with his wife Olda in 1938 and obtaining a British passport. In 1953 the couple moved to Villeneuve on Lake Geneva. In 1975 Kokoschka becomes an Austrian citizen again. He dies on February 22, 1980 in Montreux.
Ref.: T.G.Natter, M. Hollein (ed), Die nackte Wahrheit, Munich, 2005, p. 277