OSKAR KOKOSCHKA Austrian The Fox and the Grapes, circa 1952 color lithograph Color lithograph which illustrates Aesop's fable of the same name, where a fox tries unsuccessfully to reach a bunch of grapes and then declares them sour. The lithograph was published by the Guilde de la Gravure in Geneva and printed by Emil Matthieu in Zurich. Pencil signed lower right. Framed. Not examined out of frame. Sight: 15 x 20.5 inches; frame: 19 x 25 inches $200-300
ARTIST PROFILE: Oskar Kokoschka CBE (1886–1980) was a towering figure of the Viennese Expressionist movement, renowned for his "psychological portraits" and visionary landscapes that prioritized emotional intensity over physical accuracy. Born in Austria and educated at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, he quickly became an enfant terrible of the avant-garde, scandalous for both his raw, gestural painting style and his provocative, early Expressionist plays like Murderer, Hope of Women. His life was marked by dramatic upheaval, including a near-fatal injury during World War I and a famously obsessive, tumultuous love affair with Alma Mahler that inspired many of his masterpieces. As a staunch humanist, Kokoschka’s work was eventually branded "degenerate" by the Nazi regime, forcing him to flee to Prague and later London, where he spent much of World War II active in anti-fascist émigré circles. After being naturalized as a British citizen in 1947 and eventually settling in Switzerland, he spent his later years as an influential teacher and advocate for figurative art, establishing his "School of Seeing" to pass on his belief that art should capture the vital, inner essence of the human experience.
