Franz Bilko

Franz Bilko (born June 5, 1894 in Gumpoldskirchen , † April 24, 1968 in Baden ) was an Austrian painter , draftsman and commercial artist .

Life

Franz Bilko's mother came from a Gumpoldskirchen winegrowing family on his mother's side; his father, the son of a Silesian farming family, came to the nearby Vienna wine-growing town of Gumpoldskirchen as a wanderer .

The Bilko family initially lived in Gumpoldskirchen for a few years, then their parents moved to Vienna. However, Franz stayed with his grandmother and spent his childhood and youth there.

In 1922 he married Hermine Niernsee, who came from Baden near Vienna, and settled with her in Baden, where the two of them moved into an apartment in the wife's parents' house and Franz Bilko also set up his studio there, where he worked until his death in 1968.

Franz Bilko already stood out in the Gumpoldskirchner elementary school for his talents. After primary school, he first attended high school in Baden. In high school, Bilko's talent for drawing was greatly encouraged. After graduating from high school , Bilko decided to become an artist. However, his parents were economic reasons, however, and so he began at the University of Vienna , a law degree . When the First World War broke out a year later , Bilko had to enter, and his legal career was temporarily interrupted. After returning home from Italian captivity in 1919, he finally decided to become an artist.

He completed his training as an academic painter mainly at the Academy of Applied Arts in Vienna, only for the last year he studied with Walter Püttner at the Academy of Fine Arts in Munich .

After completing his studies, he established himself as a freelance artist and soon made a name for himself in his adopted home Baden near Vienna and far beyond. During this time he also did commissioned work for prestigious magazines in Austria and Germany , he illustrated (and partly wrote himself) folklore essays, was in demand as a commercial artist and created drawings for children's and fairy tale books, which were mainly published by Herold-Verlag in Stuttgart .

During the Second World War , Bilko had to again enlist in the military. Among other things, he was stationed as an interpreter in Italy, where a series of drawings of ancient Rome was made in 1943.

Sgraffito by Franz Bilko on the parish church of St. Vitus in St. Veit an der Triesting

At the end of the war he was this time - but only for a short time - in American captivity. When he returned to Baden, he resumed his work as a freelance artist with increasing success. In the period after the Second World War, Bilko created, among other things, romantic cityscapes and paintings on industrial history in the area around Traiskirchen and Baden near Vienna.

On April 24, 1968, he died in his home in Baden in an accident caused by a poorly installed gas boiler.

In Gumpoldskirchen a street was named after the artist, Franz-Bilko-Gasse.

Works (selection)

• 1945–1946: Christ with disciples from Emmaus at the Michaelskirche Gumpoldskirchen

literature

• Glanzner, Josef: The Lower Austrian painter and draftsman Franz Bilko, 1894 - 1968 . Monograph / illustrated book. Heimat-Verlag, Schwarzach 2008, ISBN 978-3-9500098-5-9 .
• Hagenauer, Johann: Franz Bilko (1894–1968). A romantic of the 20th century . Illustrated book. Heimat-Verlag, Schwarzach 2004.
• Götz, Reinhard: memorial, published on the occasion of a special exhibition on the 40th anniversary of Franz Bilko's death in the Traikirchen city museum . Heimat-Verlag, Schwarzach 2008.
• Sonka, Josef: The Lower Austrian painter Franz Bilko . Special print from: Die Bergstadt; 17 [approx. 1928/29], Breslau 1929, pp. 131-136.
• Werfring, Johann: Factories and fairy tales . In: Wiener Zeitung of September 4, 2008, supplement "ProgrammPunkte", p. 7.

Web links

Commons : Franz Bilko  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Literature by and about Franz Bilko in the catalog of the German National Library