Siegfried Leopold Kratochwil (March 24, 1916 – February 25, 2005) was an

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

n painter and poet. Born in Karlstift,

Lower Austria Lower Austria ( , , abbreviated LA or NÖ) is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Major cities are Amstetten, Lower Austria, Amstetten, Krems an der Donau, Wiener Neustadt and Sankt Pölten, which ...

, he later moved to

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and became one of the best-known Austrian

Naïve art Naïve art is usually defined as visual art that is created by a person who lacks the formal education and training that a professional artist undergoes (in anatomy, art history, technique, perspective, ways of seeing). When this aesthetic is ...

ists by the end of the 20th century.

Background

Siegfried L. Kratochwil was born in the small logging village of Karlstift in Lower Austria. After enrolling in a trade school in Vienna, he became a technician and tool maker. The

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

was a very hard time for Kratochwil and he was forced to try his hand at various professions. He married in 1939 and the initial years of marriage took place during the war. His ill health kept him from military duty. Kratochwil began helping his daughter with drawings and paintings, after she was born in 1941. It soon became apparent to him that painting made him happy. A passion for painting thus blossomed, one that would span almost 50 years, focusing primarily on Viennese motifs, which were, in turn, rooted in deeper themes of Austrian culture and history. Kratochwil also spent a significant amount of time writing poetry and etching copper engravings. Each of his paintings were usually accompanied by a poem. Kratochwil had always considered Austria his home, which is why his country and his lifelong experiences there were so central to his artwork. He was buried in Vienna in 2005 at the age of 89.

Exhibitions and Museums

Aside from the many cities in Austria, his exhibitions have spanned the continents of Europe and North America. Much of his work is currently held in private collections and museums. The following museums contain some of Kratochwil's artwork: *Historical Museum of the City of Vienna, Austri

*Clemens-Sels-Museum, Neuss, German

*Vestisches Museum, Recklinghausen, German

*Museum for German Ethnic Studies, Berlin, Germany *Museum Rade, Hamburg, Germany *German Bread Museum, Ulm, German

* Centraal Museum, Utrecht, Netherland

*Museum of Naïve Art L'ile de France, Paris, France * Musée international d'Art naïf Anatole Jakovsky, Nice, Franc

*Lower Austrian Regional Museum, Vienna, Austri

*Robert-Stolz Museum, Vienna, Austria * Musée d'Art Naïf - Max Fourny

Gallery

File:maronibraterbig.jpg, The Chestnut Vendor,

File:frankfurtrudern.jpg, Frankfurt,

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 ...

File:Pferdeschmied.jpg, The Horseshoe Maker, Karlstift,

File:Alte-Donau.jpg, The Danube,

File:Am Flohmarkt.jpg, The Fleamarket,

File:Heissewurst.jpg, The Sausage Stand,

File:Der Spielplatz.jpg, The Playground,

References and sources

; Sources * ''Der Plumpsack geht um. Alte und neue Kinderspiele'' (Rowohlt Taschenbuch Publishing 1979) * ''Alt-Wien: die Stadt, die niemals war''. Wolfgang Kos, Christian Rapp, Czernin Verlag 2004.

External links

Siegfried L. Kratochwil
website
Karstift Niederösterreich
website

short artist biographies {{DEFAULTSORT:Kratochwil, Siegfried L. 1916 births 2005 deaths 20th-century Austrian painters Austrian male painters 21st-century Austrian painters 21st-century Austrian male artists 20th-century Austrian poets Austrian people of Czech descent Austrian male poets Writers from Vienna Painters from Vienna People from Gmünd District 20th-century Austrian male writers 20th-century Austrian male artists

Background

Exhibitions and Museums

Gallery

See also

References and sources

External links