About Paul Flora, his life & his works
Paul Flora (1922 - 2009)
An Austrian draughtsman and graphic artist who was and is known for his humorous and satirical works. His works (especially drawings, lithographs and etchings, but also all kinds of prints) are very popular and reflect his subtle powers of observation.
Popular to this day...

Obituary
Paul Flora was proud that his drawings hung not only in museums, but in thousands and thousands of living rooms of those commonly referred to as “ordinary people”. His popularity was great, and he was not ashamed of it in a vain and elitist way, but enjoyed it every day.
As an artist, he had the gift of an evil eye, noticing what was laughable in the world so that he could capture it in his drawings; as a person, however, he was downright guileless, witty and helpful, a living example of the fact that great artists need not be egomaniacs. The art that he created tirelessly into old age, because drawing was the natural profession of his life from childhood onwards, is indeed for everyone: it delights the connoisseur of the graphic tradition and the viewer who confronts it without any prior knowledge of art history, its wit is subtle and enigmatic, its form masterful.
His works of art will remain; but the memory of a truly noble man who created himself in his own humane art of living and enchanted all those who had the good fortune to meet him will not fade so quickly.

Karl-Markus Gauss
on the person of the obituary author
Curriculum
You can discover Paul Flora's career interactively by clicking through the timeline of his life below the text.
in Glurns in the Vinschgau Valley, South Tyrol
until 1944
1944/1945 in Italy, Hungary & Slovakia
Back in Innsbruck after brief American captivity; first exhibition in November in the rooms of the “Zofinga”, Bern
Member of the "Art Club
in Venice
in Innsbruck
First book published by Diogenes: publication of “Flora's Fauna”
Publication of “The Musenross”
Award of the State Prize for Graphic Art - also exhibition at the Vienna Secession
Publication of “Das Schlachtross” and “Menschen und andere Tiere”
Start as a staff member of “Die Zeit” and exhibition at Galerie Würthle
Exhibitions at the Overbeck Gesellschaft and the Este-Gallery
Publication of “Trauerflora” with foreword by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Exhibitions at the Kunsthalle Bremen and the Maison de France; publication of “Vivat Vamp”
Publications of “Der Zahn der Zeit” and “Ein Schloß für ein Zierhuhn”
Exhibitions at the Austrian Cultural Institute in Paris and at the Kunstkreis Hameln; publication of “Ach du liebe Zeit I”
Stage design for “Amphytrion” at the Akademietheater in Vienna and for “Der König stirbt” at the Deutsches Schauspielhaus Hamburg; exhibition at the Wilhelm Busch Museum in Hanover
Publication of “Oh my goodness II”, “Flora's pocket fauna” and “The little men and the little women”
Exhibitions in the Taxispalais and the Wessenberghaus
Participation in the Venice Biennale with 50 drawings
Exhibitions at the Austrian Cultural Institute in Warsaw and New York; publication of “Königsdramen”
Stay in New York with Kurt Moldovan
Publication of “Veduten und Figuren” with a foreword by Friedrich Dürrenmatt
Publication of “Der gebildete Gartenzwerg” and “Zeitvertreib”; exhibition at the Aargauer Kunsthaus
Publication of the portfolio “Diogenes Portfolio” and the book “Die verwurzelten Tiroler und ihre bösen Feinde”
Publication of “Premiere” and “When the grandfather shot the grandmother”; exhibition at the Galleria Il Milione Milan
Stay with Kurt Moldovan in London
Exhibitions at the Suermont Museum, the Kulturhaus Graz and the Wolfgang Gurlitt Museum
Publications of “Auf in den Kampf” and “Der bürgerliche Wüstling”
Exhibition in the Lower Rhine open-air museum in Grefrath
Exhibition at the Folkwang Museum Essen and the Günther Franke Gallery in Munich
Publication of “Hungerburger Elegien” in book form
Exhibition at the Museé de Grenoble; publication of the portfolio “The Ravens”
Publication of “Penthouse” and “Von (A)uto bis (Z)entauren” (books); Glanz und Elend der Eisenbahn (portfolio)
Publication of “Adventurer”
Exhibition at Museum Nymwegen; publication of “The pale bosom friend” and “Early drawings” (books); “Fauna” (portfolio)
Publication of “Theater” (folder)
Publication of “Words in vain”
Exhibition at Kulturhaus Graz and Taxispalais; publication of “Nocturnos” and “Winzige Werke” (books); “Venezia” (portfolio)
Exhibition at the Städt. Museum Freiburg im Breisgau; publication of “Variationen zu Wagner”, “Brotlose Berufe” and “Die Turnübungen der Älpler” (books); “Panoptikum” (portfolio)
Award of the Grand Cross of Merit of the FRG
Premio Internazionale Assagio d'Árte Filatelica - an annual prize awarded in Asiago, Italy, which focuses on the artistic design of stamps.
Member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts, “Drawn and Written”
Until 1991, several films about and by Flora were made for ORF: “Die Raben von San Marco” (Flora), “Floras Fauna” (Flora), “Ein Fischer im Drüben” (Alfred Kubin) and “Ein Abenteurer im Schlafrock” (Paul von Rittinger)
Honorary citizen of the town of Glurns and major retrospective at the Historical Museum of the City of Vienna
Major retrospective at the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts in Munich
The awards ceremony is accompanied by an exhibition of the prizewinners' works in a municipal institution.
“A Florilegium” with an extensive text from (A)kademie to (Z)eichner by Karl-Markus Gauss (book); retrospective at Palais Esplanade in Merano and Palais Harrach in Vienna
Retrospective “From many times” with works from 1936-2004
Paul Flora dies on May 15, 2009 in Innsbruck
His brilliant early work was initially strongly influenced by Kubin. Even before 1950, he radically broke with dense hatching and turned to fine, thin-lined, delicate outlines. He consistently developed an unmistakable line technique with pen and ink that was identified with far beyond Europe.
His technical mastery is complemented by an eye for the original, sometimes offbeat subject matter. His wit ranges from caustic satire to mild irony and serene humor. Flora always saw himself as a draughtsman, even when he was creating caricatures.
Recurring themes are cities such as Venice with its carnival and the commedia dell’arte, acrobats, autumn moods, military scenes, the arrogant arrogance of the ruling classes and the organized philistinism of clubs and associations, erotic and other misfortunes, doomsday scenarios of the imperial and royal monarchy and the great figures of history such as Richard Wagner, Napoleon, Nietzsche and Edgar Allen Poe, among others. His heraldic animal and most common motif is the raven, which is wise and talkative. Insiders know that if you loosen its tongue, it speaks better than any parrot.
In the 1960s, the stroke became firmer, the outline thicker and the inner drawing increasingly dominant. From the seventies onwards, hatching began to reclaim the page in an unmistakable way, creating strong effects with the finely graduated contrast between light and dark. He also used color sparingly as another painterly element in his drawings. While he rarely used watercolor in the 1950s, he increasingly switched to color pencils in the late 1970s and especially in the 1980s. In the 1980s, he added pencil drawing to his oeuvre.
In his later work, a strongly lyrical element is finally added to some of his pictures: autumn landscapes, lonely riders in the fog, bare trees, lonely decaying houses. Flora’s graphic impressiveness was groundbreaking for the 20th century and shaped it as a draughtsman like no other. This made him not only one of the most important, but also one of the most popular draughtsmen in Europe. His works can be found in many public and private collections.

Dr. Thomas Seywald
About the author - Curriculum
Works & Publications
Books, texts and films about and with Paul Flora. Also awards and exhibitions/museums.
In 1963 Flora also designed stage sets, and between 1985 and 1998 he designed several stamp series for Austria and the Principality of Liechtenstein (including the 1988 Summer and Winter Olympics).
Article among others in:
- C. Pack, Modern Graphics in Austria, Hn 1969
- Fuchs, painter (20th century), I 1985
- Wilhelm Busch Museum, Paul Flora, 1984
- Bay. Academy of Fine Arts, Flora’s Fauna, 1997
- Kunsthistorisches Museum Vienna, Drawings 1938-2001, 2002 (for his 80th birthday)
(Source: Dr. Thomas Seywald, estate representative for Paul Flora)
- Der Mensch denkt, 1947;Herr Huber im wilden Westen, 1947;
- Flora’s Fauna, 1953;
- The Musenross, 1955;
- The warhorse in 1957;
- Mourning flora, 1958;
- Vivat Vamp, 1959;
- The ravages of time, 1961;
- Dear me, 1961;
- Königsdramen, 1966;
- Vedute and figures, 1968;
- The educated garden gnome, 1969;
- The rooted Tyroleans and their evil enemies, 1970;
- When the grandfather shot the grandmother, 1971;
- Hungerburg Elegies, 1975;
- Penthouse, 1977;
Der blasse Busenfreund, 1979; - Words in vain, 1981;
- Nocturnos, 1982;
- The Ravens of San Marco, 1985;
- Drawn and written works, 1987;
- The withered splendor, 1990;
- Early drawings, 1992;
- This and That, 1997;
- Drawings (retrospective, 75th birthday)
Paul Flora and Karl Markus Gauss, Ein Florilegium, 2002 (80th birthday); - Paul Flora and Karl Markus Gauss, Die sonderbare Stadt, 2003;
(Source: Dr. Thomas Seywald, estate representative for Paul Flora)
Published between 1989 and 1993:
- The Ravens of San Marco.
- Flora’s fauna.
- A fisherman on the other side. (On Alfred Kubin)
- An adventurer in a robe (on Paul von Rittinger)
Exhibitions (selection):
- Galleries: BERN, Zofingia 1945.
- VIENNA, Neue Galerie 1947.
- MUNICH, Galerie Gurlitt 1949 and subsequently in many hundreds of galleries in Europe and the USA.
- Regular galleries are: Innsbruck (Galerie Flora) and Salzburg (Galerie Seywald).
Museums (selection):
- MUSEUM FERDINANDEUM, Innsbruck 1952
- Start of a traveling exhibition in: FOLKWANG MUSEUM, Essen; KUNSTHALLE BREMEN; WILHELM BUSCH-MUSEUM, Hannover; AARGAUER KUNSTHAUS; KUNSTMUSEUM WINTERTHUR; MUSEE DE GRENOBLE; MUSEUM NYMWEGEN; BIENNALE VENICE, among others
- ART GALLERY BREMEN 1959
- WILHELM BUSCH MUSEUM, Hanover 1963
- VENICE BIENNIAL 1966
- SUERMONT MUSEUM, Aachen 1972
- FOLKWANG MUSEUM, Essen 1974
- MUSEUM NYMWEGEN 1979
- MUSEUM FOR ART AND TRADE, Hamburg 1984
- ALBRECHT DÜRER-HAUS, Nuremberg 1989
- HISTORICAL MUSEUM OF THE CITY OF VIENNA (Retrospective) 1992
- BAYERIAN ACADEMY OF BEAUTIFUL ARTS (Retrospective) 1997
- PALAIS ESPLANADE, Merano (Retrospective) 2002
- PALAIS HARRACH, Vienna (Retrospective) 2002
- Prize of the Tyrolean Provincial Government 1948
- Prize of the Society for the Promotion of New Art, Vienna 1948
- Medal of Honor of the Province of Tyrol 1959
- Honorary engine driver of the Zillertalbahn since 1964
- Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany 1985
- Corresponding member of the Bavarian Academy of Fine Arts since 1986
- Premio internazionale Asiago d`Arte Filatelica 1986
- Honorary citizen of the town of Glurns 1992
- E.O.Plauen Prize, Chemnitz 1999
- Honorary citizen of the city of Innsbruck 2002