Oscar Kokoschka, Austrian 1886-1980- Portrait of Dr. Walter Strebi-Erni; charcoal on paper, 51.5 x 40cm (ARR) Provenance: Dr Walter Strebi, Lucerne, a gift from the artist, thence by descent; Christie's London, 10 February 2012 lot 209, where purchased by the present owner. Note: To be included in forthcoming catalogue raisonne prepared by Dr. Alfred Weidinger.  It is believed this piece is drawn during Kokoschka's final years in Villeneuve, Switzerland Oskar Kokoschka was a 20th-century Austrian artist who is often associated with German Expressionism, much like his contemporary Max Beckmann. Kokoschka studied at the Kunstgewerbeschule in Vienna under Carl Otto Czeschka, who served as a formative influence in the development of Kokoschka’s style, before being expelled for producing work with a style and content which was deemed shocking by contemporary audiences. This demonstrates Kokoschka’s early artistic impulse to challenge existing artistic norms, an approach which came to define the work produced throughout his lifetime. Kokoschka is often seen as a central figure in the development of Viennese avant-garde, alongside artists such as Egon Schiele, and produced illustrations for the influential artistic magazine Der Sturm, the contributors for which included Franz Marc, Wassily Kandinsky, and Rudolf Bauer. Kokoschka’s work is heavily expressive, defined by the artist’s use of bold lines, somewhat harsh mark-making, and unsparing application of paint, with these loose brushstrokes conveying a sense of immediacy and urgency. Kokoschka was acknowledged as an immensely influential figure within his lifetime, with a major retrospective held at the Tate Gallery in London in 1962. His work is currently held in a number of prestigious collections across the world, such as that of the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum in New York, the Kunstmuseum Basel, the Bilbao Fine Arts Museum, and the Art Institute of Chicago, amongst others, illustrating the extent to which Kokoschka was a central player in the development of modern art in the 20th-century Europe and beyond.Please refer to department for condition report