Romana

Romana was born into a poor family in a mountainous Austrian province called Styria. She was from a family of ten children, though not all survived. She had to travel down a mountain to go to the village school each day. Her father was an Imperial forester. In Romana's isolated village there was a strong tradition of storytelling and folklore. She also inherited the gift of second sight from her mother and Romana claimed that she could predict the future.

Romana had a large effect on Kokoschka and OK loved his mother very much. She encouraged and prompted him to think of himself as different and indentified him also as clairvoyant.

Click below to see pictures of Romana and OK's childhood family:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74644976@N00/sets/72157594393746676/

Click below for the Kemper Art Museum's image of OK's sketch of his mother, Romana:
http://kemperartmuseum.wustl.edu/collections/artwork.asp?keyword=Czech&type=Culture&row=1

Let's Tour Vienna!

Here is a small assembly of images to give you a feel of Vienna.

I've included a map of Austria to remind you where on earth you are. Click below to also see some buildings and street scenes in Vienna.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/74644976@N00/sets/72157594390300430/

Karl Kraus

Karl Kraus, writer, satirist, journalist, was born into a wealthy Jewish family in 1874. He renounced his Judaism in 1899, was baptized Catholic in 1911, but also left the Catholic faith in 1923. Kraus never married, but had a long-time relationship with Baroness Sidonie Nadherny.

Karl Kraus is a close friend to Adolf Loos. Kraus made a habit of sleeping during the day and working at night, as alluded to in our play. While editing his magazine, Die Fackel (The Torch), he would eat dinner at the coffee house and drink lots of black coffee. OK noted that it was always an honor to be allowed to sit at his table at the coffeehouse.

According to OK in his autobiography My Life, Kraus had a "compelling" personality. His magazine began in 1899 and continued for 37 years, even through times of war. Kraus was able to fund his magazine on his own, and as of 1911, he was the only author of the publication.

Click below to see some images of Kraus:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74644976@N00/sets/72157594392996987/

Some of this information was taken from:
Kokoschka, Oskar. My Life. Trans. David Britt. New York: Macmillan, 1974.

Black Portraits

Here is an example of the black portraits that are referred to in the play. The first is a portrait of Else Kupfer dated 1910-11. The second portrait is of the Marquise de Rohan-Montesquieu dated 1909-10.

Oskar Kokoschka

Following is a timeline for Oskar Kokoschka:

1886-Oskar Kokoschka was born on March 1 to Josef Kokoschka, a traveling salesman, and Maria Romana in Pochlarn, Austria.

1887-The family moves to Vienna. His older brother, Gustav, dies.

1889-Birth of his younger sister, Berthe.

1892-Birth of his brother, Bohuslav.

1896-1904-Attends school, paints and creates watercolors. OK receives a state scholarship to Kunstgewerbeschule (School of Applied Arts) of the Austrian Museum for Art and Industry.

1905-07-Originally, OK set out to become a drawing teacher. In the summer of 1907, he receives his first commission. At Kunstgewerbeschule he creates many studies of pre-pubescent girls, many of whom he gets from off the street. He becomes aquainted with his friend's sister, Lilith Lang. He falls in love with her and she inspires many of these early drawings.

1908-His drawings are displayed at Kunstschau in Vienna. Among his drawings were images from his book Die Traumenden Knaben (The Dreaming Youths). "Despite severe criticism, on the very first day of the Kunstschau Kokoschka sells all of his works and becomes famous overnight" (108-109).

1909-OK meets Adolf Loos. OK focuses on painting. Up until this time, he had been drawing on paper most of the time.

1910-Goes to Switzerland with Adolf Loos and works on commissions that Loos has set up for him. Loos and OK remain in Switzerland from January until mid-March. OK designs a poster for a progressive journal entitled Der Sturm (The Storm), a job that both Loos and Karl Kraus likely helped to obtain for him. He becomes again devoted to drawing. His play Murderer, Hope of Women is published in this journal as well.

1911-OK leaves for Vienna from Berlin. He takes a job as a drawing teacher at a private school for girls in autumn, but leaves in February because he has not taken the qualifying exam for teaching.

1912-Exhibitions in Budapest, Berlin and Cologne. Love affair with Alma Mahler begins.

1914-15-Failure of love affair with Alma Mahler. Volunteers for military service. Wounded in Galicia (wound to his head) and in the Ukraine (lung pierced by a bayonet).

1919-Appointed as a professor at the art academy in Dresden.

1923-29-OK travels through Europe, North Africa, Palestine, Istanbul and Jerusalem. He paints landscapes of towns. OK resides in Paris when he is not traveling.

Click below to find some photos of OK, along with some self-portraits:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74644976@N00/sets/72157594383955022/

Below is a link to some information about OK is regards to Alma. Again, peruse this information, but take it lightly:
http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/kokoschka.html

The information above was taken from:
Weidinger, Alfred. Kokoschka and Alma Mahler. Munich: Prestel, 1996.

Alma Mahler

Below is a timeline of Alma Mahler's life, which should further illuminate events in the play:

1879-Alma Mahler is born in Vienna on August 31 to Emil Jakob Schindler and Anna Sofie Bergen.

1881-Alma's mother has an affair and gives birth to her half-sister, Grete.

1892-Alma loses her father at the age of 13. Max Burkhard, Director of Burgtheater, lends his support to the family.

1897-Alma's mother marries Carl Moll, Schindler's student. This same year Alma fall's in love with her music teacher, Alexander von Zemlinsky.

1898-99-Alma meets 35-year-old painter Gustav Klimt and they fall in love with each other. She tells no one of the affair, but records it in her diary, which her mother later reads. After a fight between Klimt and Carl Moll, Alma is forbidden to see him.

1900-01-Alma meets Gustav Mahler for the first time on November 7, 1901, after already knowing of Mahler and admiring him. On December 25, 1901 they are engaged.

1902-03-Alma becomes pregnant and they marry on March 9, 1902. Alma gives birth to daughter Maria Anna on November 3, 1902.

1904-Alma gives birth to Anna Maria on June 15, 1904. Anna is known as "Guckie."

1904-07-Alma's life is consumed with Gustav and her children. She is forbidden to compose and must not receive any visitors unless Mahler is present. Daughter Maria dies of scarlet fever and diphtheria in 1907. At the end of July of 1907, Mahler finds out about his heart condition.

1910-For two months, Alma goes to the "thermal health spa of Tobelbad" (103), where she meets architect Walter Gropius. He falls in love with Alma and intends to ask Mahler to marry her. Instead, however, he seeks help from Sigmund Freud. Alma remains committed to Gropius.

1911-12-Mahler dies on May 18, 1911 from cardiac problems. Gropius goes to Vienna to meet Alma, but their relationship cools off. They continue to write. Alma visits Gropius in Berlin in 1911, but Gropius cannot handle the "presence of Gustav Mahler in her life" (104).

1912-15-Alma has a love affair with Kokoschka.

1915-Alma marries Walter Gropius.

1916-Birth of their daughter Manon Gropius.

1918-Beginning of a relationship with Franz Werfel. Her son Martin Carl Johannes is born, but dies in 1919.

1929-Alma marries Franz Werfel.

1935-Alma's daughter Manon dies.

To see photos of Alma, as well as paintings and sketches of her by Kokoschka, click below:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/74644976@N00/sets/72157594383857659/

See this link for more Alma information. Although I am not endorsing the following website as God's Truth, you can use this information as a guide to Alma's history. The photos are great:
http://www.alma-mahler.at/engl/almas_life/almas_life.html

The timeline above was taken from:
Weidinger, Alfred. Kokoschka and Alma Mahler. Munich: Prestel, 1996.

Adolf Loos

Loos and Kokoschka met in 1909. A friend of Kokoschka, Loos helped Kokoschka to sell his paintings and would often persuade his own clients to commission portraits from Kokoschka. Loos encouraged Kokoschka, acting as a big brother or father figure to him. While Kokoschka was wounded, he sent Loos to see if Alma would come to his bedside.

Adolf Loos published "Ornament and Crime" in 1918. He was an architect who wanted his designs to be simple and functional. While his exteriors lacked ornament, his interiors were very comfortable. Loos rarely designed his own furniture, but would find existing furniture for his interiors. In 1911, be designed Loos haus in Vienna, which was originally the Goldmann and Salatsch department store. The plain exterior of the building became quite a scandal when it was built. In architecture, Loos was the forerunner to Walter Gropius and Mies van der Rohe.

Click below to find a picture of Loos and his designs.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/kokoschkaplay/album/576460762344547799

More Women's Clothing

Check out a few more women's dresses from 1914-1919.

http://new.photos.yahoo.com/kokoschkaplay/album/576460762344308775

Women's Dress

Check out some fashions that are focused on women's dress from 1910-1914. Have a look for a sense of the period. More to come...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39974385@N00/sets/72157594380902348/

Davos, Switzerland

Alma and Lili talk about Davos briefly in Act One, Scene 3. Davos, Switzerland is a winter vacation spot. A Ski Club existed in Davos even before WWI. In Bredekar's guide to Switzerland in 1911, it reads "In winter the weather is generally calm, and the power of the sun is so great that it is comfortable to sit in the open air even when the thermometer is below zero. Skating, tabogganing, curling and ski-ing are actively pursued in winter, and an international skating competition is held in January on the rink opposite the Kurhaus."

The area's economy is largely based on tourism and winter sports.

Click on the link below to view some photos of Davos taken about the same period in history as Kokoschka: A Love Story.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39974385@N00/sets/72157594375163579/

Artist Clothing - Photos

Below is a link with photos of artists in Europe from about 1910-1925. Most of the artists in the photos are contemporaries of Kokoschka, but not all are relevant to the play. These photos should give you a sense of the way people dressed at the time this story takes place.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39974385@N00/sets/72157594373032356/