The artwork “Lotte Franzos” is a portrait rendered in oil on canvas, completed by Oskar Kokoschka in 1909, a renowned artist associated with the Expressionism movement. The portrait measures 79.5 x 115 cm and depicts its subject with a distinctive blend of emotional intensity and gestural brushwork that characterizes Kokoschka’s approach during this era. Currently, this piece is housed within the esteemed collection of the Philips Collection in Washington, DC, United States.
The artwork captures the visage of Lotte Franzos with a penetrating gaze that seems both introspective and subtly confrontational, typical of the psychological probing seen in Expressionist portraiture. The brushwork is loose and dynamic, with broad swaths of color melding into one another, suggesting both movement and an aura of volatility around the figure. The colors are somewhat muted yet rich, conjuring an atmosphere that is at once intimate and distant.
The application of paint is textured and varied, with certain areas exhibiting thick impasto and others appearing more thinly veiled, allowing the canvas’s texture to be part of the visual experience. There is an air of immediacy and raw emotion that pervades the work, embodying the Expressionist endeavor to evoke subjective responses and express inner states rather than depict objective reality. The initials “OK” can be seen at the bottom right, indicating Kokoschka’s authorship of the portrait. The background is abstract, providing little context for the figure, and thereby focusing the viewer’s attention on the expressive content of the face and the figure’s posture.
