"Das Bewußtsein der Gesichte" : der Gebrauch und Eindruck von Oskar Kokoschkas Weltanschaung auf seiner frühen Kunst

Abstract

Oskar Kokoschka was one of the leading artists in the Vienna Secession, or the Austrian Expressionist movement. Already in the early 1900s when he was only in his twenties, Kokoschka’s innovative and selftaught technique helped him pioneer the Expressionist style in painting, poetry, and drama. In 1912 he also composed a short philosophical essay entitled “On the Nature of Visions.” The essay explains his view that individual minds shape the world by collecting external images and rearranging them into visions; these personal visions then contribute to a collective reality. In this essay I explore how Kokoschka uses the philosophy expressed in “On the Nature of Visions” in his early paintings, his children’s book “The Dreaming Youths,” and in his play “Murderer, Hope of Women” to show how his world view helped him innovate the now familiar style of Expressionist art.