Until October 26, 2025, the Kokoschka Museum Pöchlarn is hosting a show about Oskar Kokoschka's decades of work as a teacher and his intensive preoccupation with educational issues. The exhibition spans a wide range from his first teaching experiences shortly after completing his studies to his great successes as a teacher in the late 1940s and 1950s.
Kokoschka's early work as a drawing teacher at Eugenie Schwarzwald's private school in 1911 ended in a scandal - the school authorities had him dismissed. His teaching style seemed too unorthodox and not academic enough to the very conservative Viennese circles. In stark contrast to this is the international success of his "School of Seeing", founded in Salzburg in 1953, which forms a focal point of this year's special exhibition in Pöchlarn. Kokoschka's teaching focused on the figurative representation of moving models. Studying in his class and the impact of his personality became a formative experience for most of his students.
In addition to numerous artistic works by Oskar Kokoschka and works by some of his students, the exhibition also presents expressive photographs that show the influential teacher and great humanist in a concentrated exchange with students.
"The measure of all things remains man in the best of all possible worlds, as one cynic called it," wrote Kokoschka in the program of the "School of Seeing". Until 1963, he did not teach art there, as he said, but vision as the central means of perceiving the world. "...only with your eyes do you understand the world!" is also the title of his autobiography "My Life" from 1971.
May 10 to October 26, 2025
Oskar Kokoschka, Self-portrait, color lithograph, Salzburg, 1956, Oskar Kokoschka Documentation Pöchlarn © Bildrecht, Vienna 2025 / Fondation Oskar Kokoschka, Vevey 2025
Oskar Kokoschka Documentation
Under the patronage of Oskar and Olda Kokoschka, the Association for the Research and Documentation of the Work of Oskar Kokoschka was founded in 1973. From the very beginning, it was clear that the artist's birthplace in Pöchlarn should be the center of documentation.
In exhibitions, publications and events, the association is dedicated to the life and work of the painter, graphic artist and playwright, who is one of the most important artists of the 20th century. Every year from May to October, a special exhibition with a changing focus on Kokoschka is held in cooperation with the University of Applied Arts Vienna.
The Oskar Kokoschka Documentation has numerous works by the artist, mainly prints, some of which were donated by Kokoschka. There is also an extensive collection of photographs, archival documents, correspondence and memorabilia relating to Oskar Kokoschka. In addition, an extensive library is open to interested parties by appointment.
A permanent exhibition on Oskar Kokoschka in the front exhibition area is open all year round. It offers a tour through the main phases of the artist's work and life. The exhibition guide is available in the museum store (German/English).
www.oskarkokoschka.at
Anton Kolig, A. Hitler (Adolf Hitler as Kegelscheiber), oil on canvas on wood, 1948, University of Applied Arts Vienna, Oskar Kokoschka Center © Bildrecht, Vienna 2025
