‘Triptych-Apocalypse’ (1950, oil and tempera on canvas) by Austrian Expressionist painter and printmaker, Oskar Kokoschka, was commissioned by collector Count Antoine Seilern for the entrance hall ceiling of his London house. This triptych offers a powerful statement of Kokoschka’s commitment to continuing the Baroque traditions of artists such as Peter Paul Rubens.

There is vigorous figural movement and emotional intensity and his brushwork can easily draw a viewer into the Triptych’s pictorial space. In the centre is an explosive image of the Apocalypse; Kokoschka intended his subject matter to be a warning sign of the dangers of mankind’s intellectual arrogance. The Triptych is part of the Courtauld Institute Galleries London.— S.I.K.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, July 20th, 2014