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« Oskar Kokoschka in visita da Rolf Gérard. Un reincontro postumo di due artisti »
Editeur(s)
Pia Todorovic
Maison d'édition
Ascona: Fondazione Rolf Gérard
Date de parution
2013
In
Oskar Kokoschka in visita da Rolf Gérard
De la page
29
A la page
38
Mots-clés
Résumé
Exhibition Oskar Kokoschka visits Rolf Gérard – A posthumous reunion of two artists at the Fondazione Rolf Gérard, Ascona
4 May – 30 September 2013
The two artists Rolf Gérard and Oskar Kokoschka first met seventy years ago in London. Kokoschka was 57 years old at the time and an internationally celebrated artist, so his relationship with Gérard – his junior by 23 years – was that of an honoured master and an inquisitive student.
In old age, Gérard recalled his first encounter with Kokoschka, which he situated in 1943/44: ‘I met Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) in the midst of the war. He was in the same situation as I, in other words without any papers, but he was a world-famous man. He influenced me in painting watercolours without a pencil, without any preparatory drawing. He was a wonderful human being from whom I was able to learn so much’. In the year 1944 Gérard had the opportunity to make two portraits of Kokoschka in the latter’s London studio in Park Lane, and both are shown in the exhibition.
The two artists who are brought together again in this exhibition had lives that were so full of parallels and intersection points that the idea of placing them side by side is well-nigh compelling. Both Gérard and Kokoschka lived well into old age and thus experienced a whole century of art history; both possessed a great talent for capturing succinctly in a portrait the character traits of their fellow men; both traversed the world in the course of numerous journeys; and both received British citizenship in 1947, yet spent their final years in Switzerland. They both mixed with famous personalities, and besides their paintings they also designed stage sets and costumes; and both remained faithful to representational art after the Second World War. At times, their circles included the same men, such as Max Liebermann, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev. In this exhibition, works by Kokoschka are contrasted with those of Gérard so that a dialogue results between them.
4 May – 30 September 2013
The two artists Rolf Gérard and Oskar Kokoschka first met seventy years ago in London. Kokoschka was 57 years old at the time and an internationally celebrated artist, so his relationship with Gérard – his junior by 23 years – was that of an honoured master and an inquisitive student.
In old age, Gérard recalled his first encounter with Kokoschka, which he situated in 1943/44: ‘I met Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) in the midst of the war. He was in the same situation as I, in other words without any papers, but he was a world-famous man. He influenced me in painting watercolours without a pencil, without any preparatory drawing. He was a wonderful human being from whom I was able to learn so much’. In the year 1944 Gérard had the opportunity to make two portraits of Kokoschka in the latter’s London studio in Park Lane, and both are shown in the exhibition.
The two artists who are brought together again in this exhibition had lives that were so full of parallels and intersection points that the idea of placing them side by side is well-nigh compelling. Both Gérard and Kokoschka lived well into old age and thus experienced a whole century of art history; both possessed a great talent for capturing succinctly in a portrait the character traits of their fellow men; both traversed the world in the course of numerous journeys; and both received British citizenship in 1947, yet spent their final years in Switzerland. They both mixed with famous personalities, and besides their paintings they also designed stage sets and costumes; and both remained faithful to representational art after the Second World War. At times, their circles included the same men, such as Max Liebermann, Wilhelm Furtwängler and Rudolf Khametovich Nureyev. In this exhibition, works by Kokoschka are contrasted with those of Gérard so that a dialogue results between them.
Identifiants
Type de publication
book part
