Obituary

Paul Flora was proud of the fact that his drawings hang not only in museums, but in thousands and thousands of living rooms of those who are commonly called “simple people”. His popularity was great, and he was not vainly and elitistly ashamed of it, but enjoyed it all the days.

As an artist, he had the gift of the evil eye, noticing what was laughable in the world and capturing it in his drawings; as a person, however, he was downright guileless, witty, helpful, the living example that great artists need not be egomaniacs. The art, which he created tirelessly until old age, because drawing was the natural metier of his life from childhood on, is indeed for everyone: it delights the connoisseur of the graphic tradition and the viewer who faces it without prior knowledge of art history, its wit is subtle and enigmatic, its form masterful.

His works of art will remain; but neither will the memory of a truly noble man, who created himself in his own humane art of living and charmed all who had the good fortune to meet him, fade away so quickly.

About the author:
Karl-Markus Gauß, born in Salzburg in 1954, freelance writer, friend of Paul Flora for many years. When he was awarded the “Honorary Prize of the Austrian Book Trade for Tolerance” in 2001, Paul Flora gave the laudatory speech.