Ahead
of his time
Herbert Boeckl was always far ahead of the artistic sense
of his time.
It was not until later that many of his works gained - also internationally
-
the recognition due to them. Thus there is a blatant discrepancy between the
politico-cultural significance allotted to Boeckl in 20th-century Austrian art,
and his international fame.
As early as 1947, Otto Benesch, director of the Albertina, said:
"Boeckl has never made it easy for his contemporaries to
understand and accurately judge his work at first sight. Even the friends that
have followed his career from the early years have always stood confused, surprised,
baffled
by each new change of direction in his art, since any standards for accurate
judgement of them seemed to be lacking. It was soon clear to those with any
understanding that a great artistic power was at work here - but how were they
to know whether it wasn't going quite the wrong way?"
