In 1909, the Viennese art historians Hans and Erica Tietze asked 23-year-old Oskar Kokoschka to paint a marriage portrait for their mantelpiece. The Tietzes were strong supporters of Viennese contemporary art and together helped organize the Vienna Society for the Advancement of Contemporary Art. Erica Tietze recalled that Kokoschka painted her and her husband separately, a fact suggested by the sense of separation between the couple and their strikingly distinct poses. Kokoschka used thin layers of color to create the hazy surrounding atmosphere and added crackling energy to the composition by scratching into the paint with his fingernails.

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1909 Erica Tietze-Conrat and Hans Tietze, Vienna and New York
1939 The Museum of Modern Art, New York (purchased from the above)

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The Museum of Modern Art
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New York, NY 10019

Medium Oil on canvas
Dimensions 30 1/8 x 53 5/8" (76.5 x 136.2 cm)
Credit Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Fund
Object number 651.1939
Department Painting & Sculpture

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