Oskar Kokoschka CBE (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright, and teacher best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that i… See more

The second child of Gustav Josef Kokoschka, a goldsmith, and Maria Romana Kokoschka (née Loidl), Oskar Kokoschka was born in Pöchlarn. He had a sister, Berta, born in 1889; a brother, Bohuslav, … See more

One of Kokoschka's teachers suggested he pursue a career in the fine arts after being impressed by some of his drawings. Against his father's will, Kokoschka applied to the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna, now the … See more

In 1908 Kokoschka was offered the opportunity of submitting works to the first Vienna Kunstschau. This government funded exhibition was established to both bring in tourists and affirm Vienna's prominenc… See more

Kokoschka naturalised as a British subject on 21 February 1947 and would only regain Austrian citizenship in 1978. He travelled briefly to the United States in 1947 before settling in Villeneuve, Switzerland in 1953, where he li… See more