SEBASTIAN ISEPP

Sebastian Isepp was born in 1884 in Nötsch im Gailtal and is thus the oldest among the painters of the Nötscher Kreis. Although he himself spent only a relatively short time in Nötsch and hardly worked as a self-made painter for more than a decade, he enriched the Nötscher Kreis continuously. Through his numerous contacts to the advanced intellectual circles of Vienna in the early years of the 20th Century, Isepp made a significant contribution to this group of painters becoming an important part of the cultural scene in Austria, which marked the beginning of modern painting. His circle of acquaintances included, among others, Eugenie and Hermann Schwarzwald, Berta Zuckerkandl, Oskar Kokoschka, Rainer Maria Rilke, Egon Wellesz, Carl Zuckmayer and Hugo von Hofmannsthal.

Isepp’s picturesque oeuvre was also closely connected to his Nötsch homeland. The striking landscape forms of the Gail valley, the characteristic vegetation and the specific light in this region were among his favorite subjects. With the depiction of lonely stream banks, gnarled trees, bizarre rock formations, inhospitable rubble fields or the interior of the forest, he achieved extraordinary artistic results. A special feature of the painter; however, was his winter landscapes, with which he caused a sensation with his contemporaries, and earned him the nickname „Snow-isepp“.

In 1926, Isepp started working full-time as a restorer at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Even after his emigration in 1938, he was able to successfully continue this activity in London and received special recognition through the use of innovative restoration techniques.

Curator: Sigrid Diewald