Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980), Artist and writer

Sitter in 5 portraits
Artist of 2 portraits
Painter. Kokoschka trained at the Vienna School of Arts and Crafts, 1905-09. He wrote and designed the first expressionist play Murderer, Hope of Women (1909), causing a public scandal. He was severely wounded in the First War, but recovered and taught at Dresden Academy, 1919-23. In the 1930s Kokoschka's paintings were classed as 'degenerate', and he was forced to flee to Britain. He took British citizenship in 1947, to work in Britain. His portraits, that focus on the inner life of the sitter, are an important contribution to expressionism and, more generally, to modern art.