In 1963, Oskar Kokoschka created a graphic series inspired by Shakespeare’s King Lear, translating its themes of power, madness, and loss into an expressive graphic series. Drawn from the Lowe Art Museum’s permanent collection, the suite reflects his sustained engagement with literature and theater and his use of the human figure to convey psychological intensity. A leading Austrian Expressionist, Kokoschka brought to printmaking the urgency and formal experimentation of his painting, writing, and stage work, recasting Shakespeare’s tragedy in a modern visual language of tension, gesture, and inner turmoil.
Image: Oskar Kokoschka (Austrian, 1886 - 1980), Portrait of King Lear, 1963. Lithograph, 18.25 x 14.25 inches. Gift of William A. Graham IV. S79.028.000.1.
