Georg Eisler (20 April 1928, Vienna – 15 January 1998, Vienna) was an Austrian painter who became widely known as one of the most prominent post-WWII painters. He is well known today for his many portraits of artists and intellectuals. Trained by

Oskar Kokoschka Oskar Kokoschka (1 March 1886 – 22 February 1980) was an Austrian artist, poet, playwright and teacher, best known for his intense expressionistic portraits and landscapes, as well as his theories on vision that influenced the Viennese Expre ...

in exile in London, Eisler soon developed his own artistic style. His father

Hanns Eisler Hanns Eisler (6 July 1898 – 6 September 1962) was a German-Austrian composer. He is best known for composing the national anthem of East Germany, for his long artistic association with Bertolt Brecht, and for the scores he wrote for films. The ...

was a composer and his mother Charlotte Eisler, née Demant a well-known singer and music teacher. His subject matter themes have included landscapes (often industrial featuring the north of England where he had lived after evacuating from Austria in 1936), group or crowd scenes (including jazz clubs and public transport) as well as nudes and still lifes. He returned to Vienna in 1946 where he died in 1998. Eisler lectured at various universities including the

Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...

(Udk), HFBK

Hamburg Hamburg (, ; ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg,. is the List of cities in Germany by population, second-largest city in Germany after Berlin and List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, 7th-lar ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

, the

University of New Mexico The University of New Mexico (UNM; ) is a public research university in Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States. Founded in 1889 by the New Mexico Territorial Legislature, it is the state's second oldest university, a flagship university in th ...

, and the

University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...

Life

Out of political reasons, his mother left Austria in 1936 and lived in with Georg for two years in Moscow. They then went to Prague and in 1939 to England, after the Nazi invasion of Austria. In Manchester, Georg attended Manchester Central High School for Boys and later became a student at the Stockport School of Art and Manchester Academy. He was introduced to Oskar Kokoschka in London, who agreed to give him lessons. In 1946, he returned to Vienna to continue his art studies but never lost touch with England. In 1970,

Otto Klemperer Otto Nossan Klemperer (; 14 May 18856 July 1973) was a German conductor and composer, originally based in Germany, and then the United States, Hungary and finally, Great Britain. He began his career as an opera conductor, but he was later bet ...

commissioned Eisler to design the sets and costumes for Mozart's ''

The Magic Flute ''The Magic Flute'' (, ), K. 620, is an opera in two acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. It is a ''Singspiel'', a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue. The work premiered on ...

'' at Covent Garden

Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...

. In 1968 he was elected President of the

Vienna Secession The Vienna Secession (; also known as the Union of Austrian Artists or ) is an art movement, closely related to Art Nouveau, that was formed in 1897 by a group of Austrian painters, graphic artists, sculptors and architects, including Josef Ho ...

, and served two terms. In this capacity he initiated the successful Secession show at London's

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House in Piccadilly London, England. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its ...

. He also had several one-man shows in England. One was the show at the

Manchester City Art Gallery Manchester Art Gallery, formerly Manchester City Art Gallery, is a publicly owned art museum on Mosley Street in Manchester city centre, England. The main gallery premises were built for a learned society in 1823 and today its collection occupi ...

in 1988 (which resulted in a BBC program) and at the Fisher Fine Art Gallery in London in 1989. He exhibited his work in numerous venues around Europe, including participation in the 1982

Venice Biennale The Venice Biennale ( ; ) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy. There are two main components of the festival, known as the Art Biennale () and the Venice Biennale of Architecture, Architecture Biennale (), ...

. He also commenced his career as a major book illustrator. He taught regularly at the Salzburg Summer Academy and several times at the German Summer School run by the University of New Mexico in Taos. A major retrospective of his work was presented at the Belvedere Museum in Vienna in 2001 and another at the

Albertina The Albertina is a museum in the Innere Stadt (First District) of Vienna, Austria. It houses one of the largest and most important print rooms in the world with approximately 65,000 drawings and approximately 1 million old master prints, as well ...

museum in Vienna in 2001. His work is in the permanent collections of the Albertina, the Portrait Gallery of the

British Museum The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...

in London, the

Bibliothèque Nationale A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a p ...

in Paris and the

Neue Nationalgalerie The Neue Nationalgalerie (New National Gallery) at the Kulturforum is a museum for modern art in Berlin, with its main focus on the 20th century. It is part of the National Gallery of the Berlin State Museums. The museum building and its sculpt ...

in Berlin. In 2003, the Leica Company celebrated his lifelong friendship with

Henri Cartier-Bresson Henri Cartier-Bresson (; 22 August 1908 – 3 August 2004) was a French artist and Humanist photography, humanist photographer considered a master of candid photography, and an early user of 135 film, 35mm film. He pioneered the genre of street ...

by presenting a joint show of their work in Vienna. Annually, the Georg Eisler Medal is awarded to the outstanding young artist in Austria. Georg Eisler died in 1998 and is survived by his wife Alice, who resides in Vienna. One can see some of his works dedicated to the

Shoah The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

in the TV series ''

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

'' (1978), in which they are known as "Karl Weiss' drawings".

Decorations and awards

* 1963: Theodor Körner Prize * Austrian State Prize for Painting * Honorary Gold Medal of Vienna * 1971: City of Vienna Prize for Visual Arts * Klimt Honour of the Vienna Secession * 1974:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National Co ...

* 1993:

Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class The Austrian Decoration for Science and Art () is a state decoration of the Republic of Austria and forms part of the Austrian national honours system. History The "Austrian Decoration for Science and Art" was established by the National C ...

References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071210180228/http://www.georgeisler.at/georg.eisler/allgemein.htm {{DEFAULTSORT:Eisler, Georg 1928 births 1998 deaths 20th-century Austrian painters Austrian male painters Jewish painters Austrian Jews Austrian expatriates in Germany Austrian expatriates in Russia Austrian expatriates in England Painters from Vienna People educated at the Central Grammar School for Boys Recipients of the Austrian State Prize Recipients of the Austrian Cross of Honour for Science and Art, 1st class 20th-century Austrian male artists Academic staff of the Berlin University of the Arts

Life

Decorations and awards

Further reading

References