Axl Leskoschek, Mid-Century Water Color with Original Frame, 1946

Axl Leskoschek, an Austrian artist was born on September 3rd 1889 in Graz, Austria. He died on February 12, 1976 in Vienna, Austria. He began his studies with Law but in 1917 he had to complete his military service and was badly wounded in the First World War. After the war he studied Art at the Art School in Graz. He studied under Alfred Schötter in Graz and then later with Alfred Cossmann. His political orientation was Socialist, he was very committed to his political beliefs. For this he spent 1934, 1935, 1936, in jail. With the rise of German politics he had to flee Austria in 1938. He found a new life in Brazil and worked from 1941 until 1948 as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janerio. In Austria, Leskoschek was a founding member, in 1937, of the important artist group; Seccession in Graz. Professionally, he was a painter, printmaker and illustrated of books. In 1925, he was awarded the Österreirichischer Staatspreis, Austrian State Prize, for his illustrations and graphic works. Leskoschek returned to Austria in 1948 where he continued to work as an artist. In 1971 he had a retrospective show in Graz and a second show in 1974 in Vienna. The work presented here is a watercolor, in very fine condition, with original frame, signed and dated 1946.