From 1907 to 1914, Ferdinand Kitt studied painting at the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts under Rudolf Bacher. In his final year, the young artist undertook a journey to Italy together with his teacher Bacher and his schoolmate Josef Dobrowsky - Rome, Ravenna and Venice were the stops. In 1919, he became a member of the Secession, whose president he was from 1926 to 1929. Kitt was a landscapist, portraitist, still life and figure painter. In his multi-figure compositions religious themes play a special role. While an expressionist manner was dominant in his early work, his works of the thirties show tendencies of New Objectivity. For two decades, from 1927 to 1947, Ferdinand Kitt worked as a teacher at the Vienna Women's Academy. From 1939, he was a member of the Munich Secession. Already during his studies with Bacher, the artist received first impressions of monumental painting, which later became important for him. Kitt mainly created frescos - commissioned works, very often with an allegorical or religious character. The artist took part in many domestic and foreign exhibitions, and was also awarded numerous prizes.
Literature
W.Born, Ferdinand Kitt, in: Deutsche Kunst und Dekoration, 34.Jg., Mai 1931, S.67ff; G.Schmidt, Neue Malerei in Österreich, Wien 1956, S.21; Abbild und Emotion. Österreichischer Realismus 1914 - 1944. Österreichisches Museum für angewandte Kunst, Wien, Künstlerhaus Palais Thurn und Taxis, Bregenz, Wien 1984, S.55, S.186ff, S.249ff; Kunst in Österreich. 1918 - 1938, Österreichische Galerie, Schloß Halbturn, Wien 1984, S.109ff; Nachschlagewerk: Vollmer, mit Lit.