PAULFLORA.COM – About Paul Flora

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Flora, Paul,
Austrian drawer and graphic artist

Awards (amoung others):

Prize of the Tyrolean Central Government 1948
Prize of the Society for support of Arts in Vienna 1948
Engine-driver of honor of the "Zillertalbahn" 1964
Member of the German Academy of Beautiful Arts 1986
Premio Internazionale Asiago d'Arte Filatelica 1986
Honorary citizen of Glurns 1992
E.O. Plauen prize, Chemnitz 1999
Honorary citizen of Innsbruck 2002

His brilliant early works are heavy influenced by Alfred Kubin. Even before 1950 he suddenly stopped his impervious hatching and changed to a dainty, thin and soft outline drawing. Consequent he developed an unmistakable line tecnique which he is identified with far beyond Europe. His wit is many-sided and goes from caustic satire over mild irony to a composed sense of humor. Even when Flora was drawing caricatures, he always knew himself well as a drawer. Recurrent themes are cities like Venice and its carnival, acrobats, military sceneries, autumn moods, arrogated pride of the rulers as well as organized narrow-mindedness of unions and federations, erotic and other disasters, Napoleon, Nietzsche and Edgar Allen Poe. His heraldic animal as well as a frequent motive is the raven. In the 1960's his strokes began to harden, his outline drawing thickened and the inner drawing got more and more dominant. From 1970 on, the hatching began to conquer the sheet in an unmistakable way, whereby he produces great effects with fine nuances between light and dark. At the same time he begins to use colors economical as a further drawing element of his great works (water color, later crayons).

In the 1980's he expanded his "Oeuvre" by pencil drawings. In his later works a strong lyrical element comes up in a few of his drawings. Themes are: autumn sceneries, fogbound lonesome riders, bare trees and lonesome dilapidated houses. Flora became signposting for the 20th century, through the graphic impression he made, like no other artist. So he became one of the most important and as well one of the most popular European drawers. His works show up in popular museums and galleries as well as in private collections.
(Karl-Makus Gauß)

Exhibitions (amoung others):

Galleries: "Zofinga" in Bern 1945, New Gallery in Vienna 1947, Gallery "Gurlitt" in Munich 1949. And after that Exhibitions were made in hundreds of galleries in Europe, USA and throughout the world.

Habitual galleries of Paul Flora are: "Galerie Seywald" in Salzburg and the "Galerie Flora" in Innsbruck

(For the clearness the countless number of exhibitions in privategalleries are not mentioned)

Museums (amoung others):

Museum Ferdinandeum, Innsbruck 1952
Beginning of a tour: Wilhelm Bush Museum (Hanover), Aargauer House of Arts Museum Wintherthur, Museum of Grenoble, Museum Nymwegen, Biennale in Venice
Hall of Arts in Bremen 1959
Wilhelm Bush Museum in Hanover 1963
Biennale in Venice 1966
Suermont Museum in Aachen 1972
Folkwang Museum in Essen 1974
Museum Nymwegen 1979
Museum for Arts and Trade in Hamburg 1984
House of Albrecht Dürer in Nürnberg 1989
Historical Museum of the city of Vienna 1992
Academy of the Beautiful Arts 1997
Palais Esplanade in Meran 2002
Palais Harrach in Vienna 2002

Books by Paul Flora:

"Der Mensch denkt" 1947
"Herr Huber im wilden Westen" 1947
"Floras Fauna" 1953
"Das Musenross" 1955
"Das Schlachtross" 1957
"Trauerflora" 1958
"Vivat Vamp" 1959
"Der Zahn der Zeit" 1961
"Ach du liebe Zeit 1" 1961
"Königsdramen" 1966
"Veduten und Figuren" 1968
"Der gebildete Gartenzwerg" 1969
"Die verwurzelten Tiroler und ihre bösen Feinde" 1970
"Als der Grossvater auf die Grossmutter schuss" 1971
"Hamburger Elegien" 1975
"Penthouse" 1977
"Der blasse Busenfreund" 1979
"Vergebliche Worte" 1981
"Nocturnos" 1982
"Der Rabe von San Marco" 1985
"Die welke Pracht" 1990
"Frühe Zeichnungen" 1992
Paul Flora und K.M. Gauss: "Ein Florilegium" 2002 (80th birthday)
Paul Flora und K.M. Gauss: "Die sonderbare Stadt" 2003

Texts from Paul Flora:

"Gezeichnetes und Geschreibenes" 1987
"Dies und Das" 1997

Articles among others:

C. Pack, modern graphic in Austria 1969
Fuchs, Maler (20th century) I
Wilhelm Bush Museum, Paul Flora, Hannover 1984
Bayrische Akademie der schönen Künste, Floras Fauna, München 1997
Kunsthistorisches Museum Wien, Zeichnungen 1938 bis 2001, Wien 2002

Films with and about Paul Flora:

Between 1989 and 1993: "Die Raben von San Marco", "Floras Fauna", "Ein Fischer im Drüben" (Alfred Kubin), "Ein Abenteurer im Schlafrock" (Paul von Rittinger) 1963 Flora made a few sceneries, between 1985 and 1999 he drew a few stamps for Austria and for Lichtenstein.

Representation for Paul Flora: "Galerie Seywald" in Salzburg

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