Alternate Titles: Alma und Oskar
Picture Tree International GmbH
Dieter Berner
ALMA AND OSKAR explores the passionate and tumultuous three-year relationship between the Grand Dame of Viennese society Alma Mahler (1879-1964) and the Austrian artist and enfant terrible Oskar Kokoschka (1886-1980). In the early 1900s, Kokoschka was an up-and-coming painter, influenced by the work of Gustav Klimt yet with his own distinctive Expressionist style. Considered one of the greatest Expressionist artists of the 20th century, Kokoschka created his most famous work using Alma as a model, and the years of their relationship marked the most prodigious period in his life. A composer in her own right, Alma Mahler was a vibrant figure on Vienna’s art and music scene, and by the time she started her fiery affair with Kokoschka, she had already buried her first husband, composer Gustav Mahler, and begun an on-again-off-again relationship with architect Walter Gropius.
ALMA AND OSKAR is a testament to the power and perils of their passion.