Self-portrait of a 'Degenerate Artist' - Oskar Kokoschka
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Description
A defiant 1937 self-portrait by Oskar Kokoschka, painted during his exile after his work was labelled degenerate by the Nazi regime.
Painted in 1937, this work captures Oskar Kokoschka at a moment of personal and political crisis. Following the Nazi regime's classification of his work as degenerate, the artist fled Austria for Prague. This self-portrait functions as a direct response to that persecution, reclaiming his identity against the state-mandated label.
The composition features the artist in a frontal pose, arms crossed, with a gaze that confronts the viewer directly. His brushwork is characteristic of his mature Expressionist style: rapid, gestural, and heavily textured. The application of paint creates a sense of agitation, with colours applied in broken, overlapping strokes that build the form of the face and torso. The palette is dominated by cool blues in the clothing, contrasted against the warmer, more chaotic tones of the background and skin.
Behind the figure, the setting appears as a fragmented, almost dreamlike space. The inclusion of a small, distant figure and animal forms adds a layer of ambiguity to the scene. These elements suggest a retreat into a personal, symbolic world, away from the encroaching pressures of the European political climate. The painting avoids smooth transitions, opting instead for a raw, tactile surface that communicates the psychological state of the subject. By titling the work as he did, Kokoschka transformed a term of official condemnation into a badge of artistic defiance. It remains a significant example of how artists of the period navigated the intersection of personal identity and political exile.
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Each print is produced to order using 12-colour giclée printing on FSC-certified archival paper. Designed in Britain and printed at your nearest production hub to reduce waste and speed up delivery.
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Specific Features
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Materials & Sizing
Museum-grade giclée on FSC-certified archival matte paper, with framed and canvas options.
- Paper sizes: A4, A3, A2, A1, A0 and B2 (50×70 cm)
- Canvas: XS (20×30 cm) to Large (60×90 cm)
- Frames: black, natural wood, dark wood or white
Self-portrait of a 'Degenerate Artist' - Oskar Kokoschka
Artist Biography
Oskar Kokoschka
He was born in 1886 in Pochlarn, Austria. He was shot through the head in Ukraine and bayoneted in the chest in Russia. He survived both.
After the war, he commissioned a Munich dollmaker named Hermine Moos to create a life-size replica of Alma, sending detailed instructions about the feel of her skin and the weight of her body. Moos covered the figure in feathers instead. Kokoschka eventually staged a public execution: he decapitated the doll and smashed a bottle of wine over its head on his lawn. The police arrived the next morning, thinking he had murdered a woman.
The Nazis declared him a degenerate artist. He fled Czechoslovakia for London after the Munich Agreement and became a British citizen in 1947. His Expressionist portraits are among the most psychologically penetrating of the twentieth century: raw, agitated surfaces that seem to expose the sitter's interior state. He lived to ninety-four.
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