Josef MIKL, born in Vien­na in 1929, attend­ed the Fed­er­al Edu­ca­tion and Research Insti­tute for Graph­ics in Vien­na from 1946 to 1948. Then he stud­ied paint­ing at the Acad­e­my of Fine Arts in Vien­na with Josef Dobrowsky until 1955. Mikl is con­sid­ered a lead­ing expo­nent of Aus­tri­an abstrac­tion. Mikl, how­ev­er, always reject­ed the des­ig­na­tion “non-rep­re­sen­ta­tion­al”. He points out that the cre­ation of a pic­ture always requires con­tent, nature and fig­ure. As a mem­ber of the Vien­na Art Club, the most impor­tant meet­ing place for artists in the ear­ly 1950s, he found­ed the Galerie nächst St. Stephan in 1956 togeth­er with Wolf­gang Hol­legha, Markus Prachen­sky and Arnulf Rain­er. In 1968 Josef Mikl rep­re­sent­ed Aus­tria at the Venice Bien­nale, and in 1977 he took part in “doc­u­men­ta 6” in Kas­sel. In 1969 Josef Mikl was appoint­ed to the Acad­e­my of Fine Arts, where he led a mas­ter class for paint­ing until his retire­ment in 1997. In 1997 the Great Red­outen­saal of the Vien­na Hof­burg, redesigned by Mikl after the fire of 1992, was reopened. In his work, which con­sists of a ceil­ing paint­ing and 22 indi­vid­ual paint­ings, the artist pic­to­ri­al­ly trans­posed well-known works and lit­er­ary fig­ures by Aus­tri­an authors. Mikl’s artis­tic life’s work includes paint­ings, sculp­tures, draw­ings and works on lit­er­ary themes. His work has been hon­oured with numer­ous awards and dis­tinc­tions, includ­ing the Förderung­spreis of the City of Vien­na, 1955, the Prize of the City of Vien­na for Fine Arts, Paint­ing and Graph­ics, 1973, the Aus­tri­an Dec­o­ra­tion of Hon­our for Sci­ence and Art, 1990 and the Great Gold­en Dec­o­ra­tion of Hon­our for Ser­vices to the Repub­lic of Aus­tria. Josef Mikl lived and worked in Vien­na and Bur­gen­land. The artist dies on 29 March 2008 in Vien­na. 1979 — first exhi­bi­tion par­tic­i­pa­tion, 1981 — first solo exhi­bi­tion at Galerie Welz.

Josef MIKL, born in Vien­na in 1929, attend­ed the Fed­er­al Edu­ca­tion and Research Insti­tute for Graph­ics in Vien­na from 1946 to 1948. Then he stud­ied paint­ing at the Acad­e­my of Fine Arts in Vien­na with Josef Dobrowsky until 1955. Mikl is con­sid­ered a lead­ing expo­nent of Aus­tri­an abstrac­tion. Mikl, how­ev­er, always reject­ed the des­ig­na­tion “non-rep­re­sen­ta­tion­al”. He points out that the cre­ation of a pic­ture always requires con­tent, nature and fig­ure. As a mem­ber of the Vien­na Art Club, the most impor­tant meet­ing place for artists in the ear­ly 1950s, he found­ed the Galerie nächst St. Stephan in 1956 togeth­er with Wolf­gang Hol­legha, Markus Prachen­sky and Arnulf Rain­er. In 1968 Josef Mikl rep­re­sent­ed Aus­tria at the Venice Bien­nale, and in 1977 he took part in “doc­u­men­ta 6” in Kas­sel. In 1969 Josef Mikl was appoint­ed to the Acad­e­my of Fine Arts, where he led a mas­ter class for paint­ing until his retire­ment in 1997. In 1997 the Great Red­outen­saal of the Vien­na Hof­burg, redesigned by Mikl after the fire of 1992, was reopened. In his work, which con­sists of a ceil­ing paint­ing and 22 indi­vid­ual paint­ings, the artist pic­to­ri­al­ly trans­posed well-known works and lit­er­ary fig­ures by Aus­tri­an authors. Mikl’s artis­tic life’s work includes paint­ings, sculp­tures, draw­ings and works on lit­er­ary themes. His work has been hon­oured with numer­ous awards and dis­tinc­tions, includ­ing the Förderung­spreis of the City of Vien­na, 1955, the Prize of the City of Vien­na for Fine Arts, Paint­ing and Graph­ics, 1973, the Aus­tri­an Dec­o­ra­tion of Hon­our for Sci­ence and Art, 1990 and the Great Gold­en Dec­o­ra­tion of Hon­our for Ser­vices to the Repub­lic of Aus­tria. Josef Mikl lived and worked in Vien­na and Bur­gen­land. The artist dies on 29 March 2008 in Vien­na. 1979 — first exhi­bi­tion par­tic­i­pa­tion, 1981 — first solo exhi­bi­tion at Galerie Welz.


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