Alfons Purtscher was born in Klagenfurt, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) in 1885. Following financial difficulties, he immigrated to London, England in 1926, with his wife, the Countess Nora Wydenbruck, a Carinthian writer, translator and graphic artist. Purtscher became best known for his horse paintings and exhibited in a number of London venues, including the Cooling and Claridge Galleries. He also produced numerous impressionist portraits.
Painter Alfons Purtscher was born in Klagenfurt, Austria-Hungary (now Austria) on 14 January 1885. In 1903 he enrolled at the Munich Academy, where he trained with the most important animal painter of German Impressionism, Heinrich von Zügel. In 1910 he exhibited for the first time at the Munich Secession. From 1925 until 1935 he was a member of the Hagenbund, a leading association for modern art founded in Vienna in 1899, notable for its cosmopolitan, heterogeneous and innovative character. In 1919 he married Countess Nora Wydenbruck, a Carinthian writer, translator and graphic artist, and they settled in a villa at Pörtschach on the shores of Wörthersee lake. Finances became difficult with the devaluation of the currency in the postwar period, and the couple was forced to turn the villa into a guesthouse. One of the visitors, a British gentleman, suggested that Purtscher should accompany him to Yorkshire where he might obtain commissions to paint horses.
Purtscher moved to London, England in 1926, soon followed by his wife. The couple eventually settled in a beautiful house in Kensington, after lodging in various boarding houses, where Purtscher set up his studio and painted the walls with mural decorations inspired by the world-famous Spanish Riding School at Vienna (a photo of the dining-room with Purtscher's decorations was reproduced in Country Life, 10 July 1937, p. 45). Purtscher became sought after for his horse and dog paintings (among others, he painted the King of Bavaria's mount). The Washington Post art critic Ada Rainery noted: 'Purtscher paints the living quality [of the horses], the extraordinary power of movement as I have never seen it painted before. He portrays something about an animal that is tremendously convincing and vital' (Rainey 1931, p. 5). In 1927, the Purtschers held the first of many joint exhibitions at the Cooling Galleries in London, followed by two shows at the Claridge Galleries (1930 and 1931). The Times, reviewing the 1930 exhibition, praised Purtscher's horse paintings for their 'real expression of the animal life', 'rhythm of action' and 'powerfully moulded forms' (The Times 1930, p. 10).
Purtscher became a naturalised British subject in 1933. During the Second World War, the Purtschers' house was bombed several times, but not so severely as to prevent them from providing shelter for refugees fleeing Nazi Germany. During the war years, Purtscher took part in several exhibitions. In 1942, he contributed a painting entitled Ruins of Archer Street to the Fourth Exhibition of Civil Defence Artists, presented at the Cooling Galleries in London, and a view of Half Moon St, Mayfair, in the Blitz , showing the devastation in the aftermath of a bomb, at the exhibition of Civil Defence Artists at the City Art Gallery in Manchester. In June 1943 he exhibited a still life at the third annual show of Austrian artists held in conjunction with Austrian Women’s Voluntary Workers at 34 Lowndes Square in Knightsbridge and, the following year, he exhibited with the Austrian Centre (AC, established in Paddington to provide a cultural meeting point for Austrian exiles), showing a portrait and a still life. He also created numerous impressionist portraits in oil, watercolour and pastel, including one of fellow Austrian émigré writer, Hilde Spiel (1954). Alfons Purtscher died in London, England on 3 January 1962. In the UK public domain, the British Museum holds a woodcut of a greyhound by Purtscher
Consult items in the Ben Uri archive related to [Alfons Purtscher]
Publications related to [Alfons Purtscher] in the Ben Uri Library