Schlote

Karl Wiener prints bring back an Austrian artist whose work sat almost forgotten in a museum storeroom for decades. Born in Graz in 1901, Wiener made sharp political collages, quiet nature studies, portraits and dark, personal drawings. Our collection gathers hundreds of his sheets as art prints, from Styrian landscapes and moonlit scenes to his anti-war montages of the 1930s and 1940s.

About Karl Wiener

Karl Wiener was born in Graz, Austria, on 26 January 1901. He grew up in a Social Democratic family: his father worked as a proofreader at the party's Graz printing house. After school, Wiener spent several years as a bank clerk in Graz and Munich before turning to art.

He started training in 1924 at the art school in Graz and joined the Grazer Sezession. From 1926 he studied painting and graphic art at the Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) in Vienna under Bertold Löffler, then studied with Rudolf Jettmar. A 1930 travel scholarship took him through Germany, Sweden and Denmark, where he saw new international art, and in 1935 he travelled to Moscow, where museums acquired some of his work.

Wiener never found a footing in the art market. He earned his living as a teacher and commercial artist, mostly for Social Democratic publications, and later moved to Vienna for good. From 1940 he taught at the Vienna Kunstgewerbeschule, but he lost the post in 1947. His Vienna studio was bombed in 1945, his depression deepened, and he took his own life in 1949.

After 1960, a wooden crate holding his graphic work came to the Museum of the City of Vienna, now the Wien Museum. A selection was shown in Graz in 2001, and in 2011 the Wien Museum devoted an exhibition to him, "Verschollen im Museum" ("Lost in the Museum").

Style and Subjects

Wiener's early work draws on Expressionism and New Objectivity. He later took cues from George Grosz, John Heartfield, Otto Dix and Kurt Schwitters, and he was making collages from 1929, early for an Austrian artist. His political montages of the 1930s and 1940s later earned him the nickname "the Austrian John Heartfield."

His work covers a lot of ground. There are agitation graphics about the exploitation of workers, grotesque pen drawings about war and Nazi rule, careful portrait drawings, and unsettling sheets that record his own mental distress. Alongside these, the collection includes many quieter pieces: numbered nature studies, color studies, landscapes of Upper Styria, and scenes of the moon and night sky.

Famous Works

• Komposition aus "Pflaster und Wiese" (1924), Wien Museum, Vienna. An early watercolour and Indian ink drawing from his series whose title means "Pavement and Meadow." Sheets from this series are available as prints.
• Ohne Titel (Collage), from "Die 150 Blätter" (1940), Wien Museum, Vienna. A mixed-media collage of a woman's head from his large 1940s series of sheets. Other sheets from this series are available as prints.
• Winter, from "Die 150 Blätter" (1941), Wien Museum, Vienna. A pencil drawing of a soldier among snowy trees, made in the middle of the Second World War.
• Der Stier und die Europa (1940), Wien Museum, Vienna. A small collage with gouache that retells the myth of Europa and the bull.
• Drei Männer (Arbeiter) (around 1932), Wien Museum, Vienna. A gouache of three workers from the years when his art focused on working people.

Decorating with Wiener Prints

For calm rooms such as bedrooms, reading corners and hallways, choose from his nature studies, Upper Styrian landscapes, cloud studies and moonlit scenes like Mond und Venus or Föhnwolken. His color studies and compositions, such as Komposition in Grün und Violett, sit well in modern living rooms and home offices, especially hung as a set of two or three.

His political collages and anti-war drawings make strong statements, so they suit a study, a library wall or a gallery wall built around 20th-century history. The portrait and figure drawings work well in small groups along a staircase or above a desk.

FAQ

What art movement was Karl Wiener part of?

His early work belongs to Expressionism and New Objectivity. He was a member of the Grazer Sezession in Graz, and from 1929 he made collages and montages in the political spirit of John Heartfield and George Grosz.

What is Karl Wiener's most famous work?

Wiener is known less for a single picture than for his series of sheets, such as "Pflaster und Wiese" from the 1920s and "Die 150 Blätter" from around 1940. His political montages are the reason he was called "the Austrian John Heartfield."

Where can I see Karl Wiener's original works?

His artistic estate belongs to the Wien Museum in Vienna, which held a major exhibition of his work in 2011. Museums in Moscow, including the Pushkin Museum, acquired works from him in 1935.

What makes Karl Wiener's style recognizable?

Look for cut-and-paste collages with a political edge, grotesque pen drawings about war, and intense portraits. Next to them sit gentle nature studies and night skies, so his work ranges from sharp to quiet.

Why was Karl Wiener forgotten for so long?

He never established himself in the art market and died in 1949. His graphic work went to the Vienna city museum in a wooden crate after 1960 and stayed largely unknown until a selection was shown in Graz in 2001.

Related Artists

• Kurt Schwitters: collage pioneer whose work influenced Wiener's own collages.
• John Heartfield: political photomontage artist; Wiener was later called "the Austrian John Heartfield."
• George Grosz: satirical draftsman whose influence shows in Wiener's later work.
• Otto Dix: New Objectivity painter who influenced Wiener's later work.
• Otto Rudolf Schatz: Austrian artist who showed with Wiener at Vienna City Hall in 1946.