Paul Flora (6 June 1922 – 15 May 2009) was an Austrian caricaturist, graphic artist, and illustrator, known for his black ink line drawings. "Flora was one of Europe's most profiled illustrators since the 1960s. He worked for British newspapers

The Times ''The Times'' is a British Newspaper#Daily, daily Newspaper#National, national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its modern name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its si ...

and

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. First published in 1791, it is the world's oldest Sunday newspaper. In 1993 it was acquired by Guardian Media Group Limited, and operated as a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' ...

as well as for Germany's

Die Zeit (, ) is a German national weekly newspaper published in Hamburg in Germany. The newspaper is generally considered to be among the German newspapers of record and is known for its long and extensive articles. History The first edition of was ...

Career

Flora was born in

Glurns Glurns (; ; ) is an urban ''comune'' (''Stadt'') in South Tyrol in northern Italy, located about northwest of Bolzano. It is one of I Borghi più belli d'Italia ("The most beautiful villages of Italy"). Geography As of 30 November 2010, it ha ...

South Tyrol South Tyrol ( , ; ; ), officially the Autonomous Province of Bolzano – South Tyrol, is an autonomous administrative division, autonomous provinces of Italy, province in northern Italy. Together with Trentino, South Tyrol forms the autonomo ...

. The young artist spent his formative years in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. From 1942 to 1944 Flora studied at the

Academy of Fine Arts Munich The Academy of Fine Arts, Munich (, also known as Munich Academy) is one of the oldest and most significant art academies in Germany. It is located in the Maxvorstadt district of Munich, in Bavaria, Germany. In the second half of the 19th centur ...

under the Norwegian draftsman and painter Olaf Gulbransson, who worked for the political magazine

Simplicissimus :''Simplicissimus is also a name for the 1668 novel ''Der abenteuerliche Simplicissimus, Simplicius Simplicissimus'' and its protagonist.'' ''Simplicissimus'' () was a German language, German weekly satire, satirical magazine, founded by Albert ...

. "To many observers of the Austrian and German art scene, Paul Flora appears to have weathered many storms on his stony path to becoming well known for his characteristic black ink line drawings. Living in Tyrol, where it is almost impossible for an artist to earn a living solely by selling his artwork, he was one of the few who had achieved sustained success". (R. H. Sachsenmaier: "Paul Flora". In Sast Report, 2013) He died on 15 May 2009 in

Innsbruck Innsbruck (; ) is the capital of Tyrol (federal state), Tyrol and the List of cities and towns in Austria, fifth-largest city in Austria. On the Inn (river), River Inn, at its junction with the Wipptal, Wipp Valley, which provides access to the ...

and was buried in his hometown Glurns.

Honors

Asteroid 85411 Paulflora, discovered by

Erich Meyer Erich Meyer (born 6 August 1951) is an Austrian engineer, amateur astronomer and discoverer of asteroids. Astronomical career Between 1996 and 1999, using the private observatory Meyer/Obermair in Davidschlag (municipality Kirchschlag bei Li ...

and Erwin Obermair in 1996, was named in his honor. The official was published by the

Minor Planet Center The Minor Planet Center (MPC) is the official body for observing and reporting on minor planets under the auspices of the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Founded in 1947, it operates at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory. Funct ...

on 30 July 2007 ().

Exhibitions in museums

* 1950: Biennale in Venedig * 1952: Landesmuseum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck * 1956: Secession, Vienna * 1959: Kunsthalle Bremen und Maison de France, Berlin * 1963: Wilhelm Busch Museum, Hannover * 1966: Biennale in Venedig * 1972: Suermont Museum, Aachen * 1974: Folkwang Museum, Essen * 1979: Museum Nymwegen * 1984: Museum für Kunst und Gewerbe, Hamburg * 1989: Albrecht-Dürer-Haus, Nürnberg * 1992: Historisches Museum, Vienna * 1993:

Museion The Mouseion of Alexandria (; ), which arguably included the Library of Alexandria, was an institution said to have been founded by Ptolemy I Soter and his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus. Originally, the word ''mouseion'' meant any place that was ...

Bozen Bolzano ( ; ; or ) is the capital city of South Tyrol (officially the province of Bolzano), Northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third largest in historical Tyrol. The g ...

* 1997: Bayerische Akademie der schönen Künste, Munich * 2002: Palais Esplanade, Meran * 2002: Palais Harrach, Vienna * 2021: Abertina, Vienna

Films

* ''Die Raben von San Marco'' * ''Floras Fauna'' * ''Ein Fischer im Drüben'' * ''Ein Abenteurer im Schlafrock'' * ''Auf dem Strich – Paul Flora im Film'' 2007

References and notes

External links

* * * Biography
Paul-Flora-Site (English, German)
* Biography, Photographies, Short story: Sast Report - Culture

''Bleistifte der Härte zwei''
(

Janko Ferk Janko is a name that derives from a diminutive form of the name '' Jan'' (Slavic languages), '' Janez'' (Slovenian), ''János'' (Hungarian), and ''Yakov''/''Jacob'' (Ashkenazi Jewish). It also derives from the vernacular form of Latin ''Johannes'' ...

Paul Flora, German)
Galerie Hofburg / Brixen

Audiointerview: Paul Flora
ORF, 15. Mai 2009
Paul Flora
(in German) from the archive of the

Österreichische Mediathek The Österreichische Mediathek ("Austrian Mediatheque") is the Austrian archive for sound recordings and videos on cultural and contemporary history. It was founded in 1960 as Österreichische Phonothek (Austrian Phonothek) by the Ministry of Educ ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flora, Paul 1922 births 2009 deaths Austrian artists Academy of Fine Arts, Munich alumni People from Glurns