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Herbert Boeckl (Klagenfurt 1894-1966 Vienna) is one of the most important representatives of Austrian modernism. Denied admission to the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, the young painter studied architecture and met the artists Egon Schiele, Gustav Klimt and Carl Moll through Adolf Loos. In 1919 Boeckl moved into a studio in Klagenfurt for over a decade, where he maintained close contact with the artists of the Nötscher Kreis, whose influence is noticeable in early works. In 1935 Boeckl was appointed professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna. From 1962 until his death he presided over the academy as rector. The legendary evening lecture Abendakt, which Boeckl directed from 1939 to 1966, became a mandatory event for generations of Austrian artists. In 1950 Herbert Boeckl represented Austria at the Venice Biennale. He was awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize and the Austrian Decoration for Science and Art of the Republic of Austria. A strongly expressive style and impasto application of color dominated his early work, while he subsequently moved towards a constructive pictorial structure in which color retained its position as the central vehicle of expression. The artist devoted himself primarily to figurative and landscape subjects, which turned out to be his profoundly independent response to the internationally emerging abstract painting. His oeuvre includes oil paintings, watercolors, drawings, gouaches and frescoes. Like few others, Herbert Boeckl left his mark on Austrian art of the 20th century.
www.herbertboeckl.at
