Polperro I
Copyright
© Fondation Oskar Kokoschka / DACS 2023
Image: Courtauld
Image: Courtauld
ⓒ Work in copyright. All rights reserved.
Maker
1886-1980
Title
Polperro I
Date of Production
1939 - 1940
Medium
oil on canvas
Dimensions
Height: 60 cm (canvas)
Width: 81.6 cm (canvas)
Width: 81.6 cm (canvas)
Object Number
P.1978.PG.209
Mode of Acquisition
Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978
Credit
Courtauld Gallery, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
After having fled to London from Prague on the eve of World War II, Kokoschka settled briefly in the Cornish fishing village of Polperro. His work was becoming increasingly political at this time often incorporating symbolic and allegorical elements. Here, the view of a fishing boat sheltering in a harbour includes (at the lower right corner) the unsettling detail of a woman mourning over a prostrate body.
Another unexpected feature is the over-sized crab in the foreground. Kokoschka saw this creature as a monster representing disaster. Its eerie distortion in an otherwise picturesque image may be an indication of the artist’s growing sense of unease in 1939.
Another unexpected feature is the over-sized crab in the foreground. Kokoschka saw this creature as a monster representing disaster. Its eerie distortion in an otherwise picturesque image may be an indication of the artist’s growing sense of unease in 1939.
Inscriptions
Inscription: Signed : lower right & recto : OK
Provenance
Acquired 1940-1946 by Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978); Princes Gate Bequest 1978.
Exhibition History
Special Display - Oskar Kokoschka: The Prometheus Triptych, Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/11/2021-22/09/2022
Special Display - Oskar Kokoschka, Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/10/2014-31/01/2015
Oskar Kokoschka - The Sensitive Titan, Leopold Museum, Vienna, 04/10/2013-27/01/2014
...MoreOskar Kokoschka, Exile and New Homeland 1934-1980, Albertina, Vienna, 04/04/2008-12/07/2008
Kokoschka - Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings in the
Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 09/09/1992-28/10/1992
Princes Gate Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 09/09/1992-28/10/1992
The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists from the Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, 12/01/1984-28/02/1984; Kyoto, 03/03/1984-03/04/1984; Osaka, 12/04/1984-08/05/1984; Australia National Gallery, Canberra, 01/06/1984-06/08/1984
...LessLiterature
Kokoschka - Prints, Illustrated Books and Drawings in the
Princes Gate Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1992
cat. no. 20
Fig. p. p. 63
cat. no. 20
Fig. p. p. 63
The Impressionists and Post-Impressionists from the Courtauld Collection, Tokyo, Kyoto, Osaka and Canberra, 1984
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