Josef Floch (1894-1977)

Josef Floch was born on November 5th 1894 in Vienna. Between 1913 and 1918 he studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, where Rudolf Bacher and Franz Rumpler were his professors. Since 1919 he was member of the „Hagenbund“, where he exhibited regularly.

In 1925 he moved to Paris and with the help of his friend, the Austrian artist Willy Eisenschitz, he established in the new city. He exhibited in the Salon d’Automne, Salon des Tuileries and the well-known gallery of Berthe Weill, where as well other famous artists like Picasso and Modigliani had their exhibitions. In 1934 he married Hermine Fränkl, who gave birth to their two daughters Jenny Eva and Suzannes Marguerite.

In 1941 they emigrated to the United States. Numerous exhibitions and awards demonstrate his success in New York. In 1951 he obtained the American citizenship. One year later Maximilian Gautier published the first monograph of the artist in Paris. In 1972 a retrospective of the artist took place in the Österreichische Galerie in Vienna, which received a lot of attention. On October 26th 1977 Josef Floch died in New York.