AXL LESKOSCHEK* (Graz 1889 - 1976 Vienna)
Odysseus and Iros, 1946
woodcut/paper, 29,3 x 20 cm
signed Axl, in the plate monogrammed AL and dated 46

ESTIMATE °€ 100 - 200
STARTING PRICE °€ 100

Axl Leskoschek (born as Albert von Leskoschek on September 3rd 1889 in Graz, Austria, died February 12 in 1976 in Vienna, Austria) was an Austrian painter and illustrator. He studied law first until 1917, before he had to fight in World War I where he was wounded severely. After the war he studied Art at the Art School in Graz, his teacher was Alfred Schroetter, and in Vienna where his teacher was Alfred Cossmann. Leskoschek’s politic orientation was socialistic. Until 1934 he worked as an editor for the social democratic newspaper “Arbeiterwille”. From 1920 he also worked as an illustrator for different books. As an example he made woodcuts for two volumes of the very popular publisher “Insel-Buecherei” in 1926 and in 1967. Leskoschek was a founding member of the important artist group Secession in Graz in 1937. For his illustrations and graphic works he was awarded with the “OEsterreichischer Staatspreis” (Austrian State Prize) in 1925. Leskoschek got into trouble for his political commitment; he was in jail in 1934, 1935 and 1936. He became a member of the communist party in 1934 and had to flee Austria in 1938 when the Nazis took over power. With help of a Christian church organization he was able to flee to Brazil where he worked from 1941 until 1948 as a professor at the Academy of Fine Arts in Rio de Janeiro. In 1948 Axl Leskoschek returned to Austria. 1971 a retrospective was shown in Graz and a second one in 1974 in Vienna. The artist died two years later in Vienna.

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