Having been turned down by the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts, Herbert Boeckl studied architecture at the Vienna University for Technology from 1912 and became a private pupil of Adolf Loos. At the recommendation of Egon Schiele, Boeckl secured a funding agreement with the Viennese art dealer Gustav Nebehay in 1920. Stimulating study trips took him to Berlin in 1921/22, to Paris, where he encountered the works of Classical Modernism, and to Sicily in 1924. In 1927 Boeckl’s works were shown in a solo exhibition at the Vienna Secession. In 1932 the artist participated for the first time in the Venice Biennale. Boeckl, who was awarded the Grand Austrian State Prize in 1934, acted as professor of the general school of drawing at the Vienna Academy from 1935 to 1939 and later took over evening life drawing classes. From 1945 to 1946 Boeckl served as head of the Vienna Academy. In the early 1950s, the artist travelled to Spain, followed by later trips to Greece and Egypt. From 1952 to 1960 Boeckl worked on the mural in the “Angels’ Chapel” in Seckau Abbey. Boeckl’s works have been shown in numerous exhibitions in Austria and abroad and his oeuvre has been honoured with various prizes and awards. Between 1962 and 1965 Boeckl served as head of the Vienna Academy once more. While Boeckl’s early works were created in the style of Expressionism, he soon developed his own style, creating an ‘obsessive corporeality’ out of colour. The narrative realism of his early 1930s works was replaced by his interest in the tectonics of landscapes and people. After 1945 he created an ‘abstracting essence from the achievements of modernity’.
Literature
Reference works: O.Benesch, A.P.Gütersloh, O.Mauer, H.Tasquill, Boeckl - 17 Zeichnungen, 51 Bilder, Vienna 1947; C.Pack, Der Maler Herbert Boeckl, Vienna-Munich 1964; G.Frodl, Herbert Boeckl. Mit einem Werkverzeichnis der Gemälde von L.Boeckl, Salzburg 1976; O.Breicha (ed.), Herbert Boeckl. Das Spätwerk. Bilder nach 1945, Graz 1988; Herbert Boeckl. Körper und Räume. 1915 - 1931, Klagenfurt 1989; Herbert Boeckl zum 100.Geburtstag, Kunstforum, Vienna 1994; Agnes Husslein-Arco (ed.), Herbert Boeckl, Österreichische Galerie Belvedere, Vienna 2009