"This painter was distinguished amongst many others by a talent that triumphed over a huge body in which there beat a very timorous heart. In no other painter have I found the solemn, gloomy freedom which marks the pictures painted in his youth. Here are strong, violent emotions that have tempted, distressed and tormented Herbert Boeckl throughout his life. His ready willingness to accept suffering and mental anguish enabled him to paint with great sensitivity. If this man and painter, who is of the utmost emotional sensibility, can get through a life of full work and over-full of disappointments, then there must be secret powers that keep him going."

Fritz Wotruba on his artist colleague, 1964