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

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n painter and poet. Born in Karlstift,

Lower Austria Lower Austria (german: Niederösterreich; Austro-Bavarian: ''Niedaöstareich'', ''Niedaestareich'') is one of the nine states of Austria, located in the northeastern corner of the country. Since 1986, the capital of Lower Austria has been Sankt P ...

, he later moved to

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

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 The Centraal Museum is the main museum in Utrecht, Netherlands, founded in 1838. The museum has a wide-ranging collection, mainly of works produced locally. The collection of the paintings by the Northern Mannerist Joachim Wtewael is by a lon ...

, 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,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

File:frankfurtrudern.jpg, Frankfurt,

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

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

File:Alte-Donau.jpg, The Danube,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

File:Am Flohmarkt.jpg, The Fleamarket,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

File:Heissewurst.jpg, The Sausage Stand,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

File:Der Spielplatz.jpg, The Playground,

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

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 male artists 20th-century Austrian poets Austrian people of Czech descent Austrian male poets Writers from Vienna Artists 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