For Kokoschka dynamic brush marks were an essential characteristic of Expressionism. His models should be in constant movement. He did not wish to sketch merely the body,
but the body in movement. Animals were ideal subjects for him because they do not pose. Kokoschka painted this mandrill in the London Zoo., Kokoschka painted the mandrill in London Zoo. In his painting he emphasizes the wild, untamed nature of the animal, in a sense giving it back its freedom. Nothing in this painting makes you think of small cages and thick bars. ‘When I was painting him, I saw [that] this is a wild, isolated fellow, almost like a mirror image of myself. Someone who wants to be alone.’

Specifications
Title | The Mandrill |
---|---|
Material and technique | Oil on canvas |
Object type |
Painting
> Painting
> Two-dimensional object
> Art object
|
Location | This object is in storage |
Dimensions |
Width 102 cm Height 127 cm |
---|---|
Artists |
Schilder:
Oskar Kokoschka
|
Accession number | 2338 (MK) |
Credits | Aankoop / Purchase: 1950 |
Department | Modern Art |
Acquisition date | 1950 |
Age artist | About 40 years old |
Exhibitions |
Een prikkelcollectie (2000) Boijmans Ahoy, drive-thru museum (2020) The Collection Enriched (2011) Oskar Kokoschka - Mensen en beesten (2013) De collectie als tijdmachine (2017) |
Material | |
Object | |
Place of manufacture | London > England > Great Britian > United Kingdom > Northern Europe > Europe |
Geographical origin | Austria > Western Europe > Europe |
Please note: The metadata of this object have not been checked.
Contact a curator if something seems incorrect.
All about the artist
Oskar Kokoschka
Pöchlarn 1886 - Montreux 1980
Oskar Kokoschka was born in Austria in 1896 to a Czech family. During his studies in Vienna one of his teachers was the famous artist Gustav Klimt, who...
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