With the painting The Wind Bride (1914, see cover), the painter Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980) depicted the climax of his amorous relationship with Alma Mahler. The amour fou ended in disappointment, which manifested itself in a symbolic overpainting - the psychologically positive red gave way to a cool blue. In Kokoschka's case, the urge for self-expression within the framework of a clearly defined artist's image began at the age of 22. He created this image in an economically determined manner, which became an artistic myth throughout his life through the blending of fantasy stories and lived experience and still determines and often falsifies the interpretation of his works from the Expressionist phase today. In his stories and lectures, reality and self-presentation were transfigured into an artistic myth to which the scientific and art-historical biography succumbed. Only recently have art historians tended to interpret the artist in terms of marketing strategy. In Kokoschka's case, it was not gaps in his memory or cognitive illusions that formed his artistic myth - it was the deliberate, all-encompassing staging.

This book is included in DOAB.